back in the saddle

Although the calendar claims it is still spring, the heat suggests summer. Mid-90s for the highs this week with lows in the 70s. Despite the humidity, we haven't had much rain lately and when I arrived to pick up my daughter from horse camp, the arena was quite dusty. Yes, that is dust, not fog, obscuring this picture.

After two months of low mileage, trying to let my foot heal, I realized it was time to get back in the saddle. Two and a half weeks ago I picked a marathon training plan (Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning 18 weeks up to 55 miles per week) and worked it backwards to that current week and my then fitness level. I've been very good and have run all the miles planned thus far, slowly increasing my weekly mileage, and am happy to report that my foot started feeling much better after getting back into more consistent running. In fact, it doesn't hurt at all today. Yay! Right now I'm running 4 days a week, increasing my mileage by 3 miles each week and my long run by 1 mile each week. This should safely put me where I need to be to begin the official marathon training plan which starts with a 33 mile week (12 mile long run) in early July. I'm doing all of my runs by the heart rate ranges listed for each type of run in the book rather than by my goal pace, primarily because of the heat/humidity and being out of shape. For the first time in my life, I don't feel guilty about running a 13-minute/mile pace. I know that with consistency, increasing milege and weight loss, my pace will improve. Getting back in the saddle is awesome!