Oh what a week!

Oh what a week! I met my 5 times a week goal, my mileage goal, received a free entry into a Spring 2010 marathon, and seeked out a running coach!

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 4.04 miles total, speedwork = 1.04 mile around the block with Riley (golden retriever) warm-up. Then 0.25 mile on the treadmill, warm-up. Four times 0.5-mile at 6 mph with 0.25-mile walk/jog recovery between. Felt good!

Wednesday: 2.28 miles. 1.04 miles with Tasha (husky), then the rest with Riley. Easy run.

Thursday: Rest Day. Was offered free entry to inaugural Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke, VA. Who me? Yes! Was giddy about it all afternoon. This is a hilly course. Not sure if I should accept since it will be hard. But maybe I should, since it will be hard. Just go into it with the expectation of simply finishing within the 7 hour cut-off time, rather than a PR.

Friday: 3 mile progression run. 13:10 warm-up mile, 11:32 marathon pace mile, 11:00 faster paced mile. Sent in my completed entry form for the Blue Ridge Marathon. I accept the challenge. For several months, if not longer, I've had a goal of running the Pine Mountain 40-mile trail ultramarathon in December 2010. The Blue Ridge Marathon will be great preparation for that event. Plus... did I mention free entry?

So now that I've decided to take on this challenge, I thought I should probably get a running coach. Especially because I'd really like to run the Wrightsville Beach marathon too, which is 5 weeks before the Blue Ridge Marathon. I'd like to run the Wrightsville Beach marathon faster than my previous marathons. I can follow a cookie-cutter training plan (i.e. Hal Higdon), but want to improve my pace and have no clue how to properly train for two marathons within 5 weeks of each other. Hiring a running coach is something I've been thinking about and researching for months. I listen to a variety of running podcasts and have heard about Coach Speedy Sasquatch in several of them. I thought of him at first, but then thought it may be better to find someone local. I searched for local coaches and found very few. And those few didn't have impressive websites. There is a blogger that I follow in North Carolina that has exceptional blogs; he hopes to coach soon, but isn't coaching yet. I considered another North Carolina coach, but he's in charge of an inaugural marathon and his program seems to focus on the local athlete, so I ruled him out as probably being to busy. My thought kept turning back to Speedy Sasquatch so I contacted him about coaching. He coaches people around the country, the podcaster seems obsessed with him, so I decided to give him a try. Sent him an inquiry and then responded by filling out a form for him. Hoping he can help me reach my goals!

Saturday: 8 mile long run. It was 32 degrees when I got up this morning. Thought I would run on the treadmill. But then looked at Twitter and saw that Dirtdawg50k ran outside in 18 degrees with a windchill. Threw out the question of indoor vs outside and he responded with get your butt out the door (or something like that). So I put on tights, thermal top, long-sleeved cotton shirt, hat and gloves and began my run. I left home, turned left on Cole, left on Five Forks, left on Lake Lucerne to almost Hwy 78, then turned around when my Garmin 405 said I had gone 4 miles. I've run this route before, when the weather was much warmer (80s). It was much easier today in the low 30s. I really enjoyed the run until about 7 miles, when I tripped over thin air. Why am I so clumsy? I can't even blame the sidewalk. Thankfully, my gloves and tights covered any damage, so I took a few seconds, dusted myself off, thought that I've done this before, and kept running home. At home I realized that my right knee was scraped through my thights, I have a small scratch on my left hand, and my right elbow is probably going to bruise from landing on it as well. Was surprised at how well I felt (energy wise) after the run, but the shower STUNG.

Sunday: Easy 2-mile run on the treadmill just to get a few more miles in. My right arm/shoulder hurts. Guess it took most of the impact from my fall yesterday.

* Days run this week: 5

* Miles run this week: 19.32

* Highlight of the week: Receiving free entry into Blue Ridge Marathon!

* Goal for next week: Keep on running... 5 times a week, 22-ish miles.