Distance: 61.9 kilometers (32.17 miles)
Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Comments: This was the first week of consecutive running days since I have started. It's a change that I have been concerned about due to the fact it bumps up mileage and cuts into recovery time pretty severely, an equation that can easily add up to injury.
And its clear the change is a tough one on my body. My feet have been struck with soreness at different points pretty much from the get-go. First the underside of my left foot at the fourth and fifth mandible were a problem and then the side of my right foot.
On the plus side, twice-a-day icing seems to have resolved the issue but I remain wary. What I really need is a new pair of running shoes but I have run into severe problems in that regard. More on that later...
Conditioning-wise, it has been a great week. I was able to put in all the workouts and do a damn good effort at them. A couple were not a hell of a lot of fun but none were simply beyond my ability to do. It's a good feeling after so long at simply building to get to the point where I crank out this level of workout.
One of the ironic downsides of training for a marathon is that, instead of being able to enjoy being in the best shape of your life, you spend most of your time worried about injury. Because the plain fact is, putting in the miles you need to prepare for the race are damn hard on the body - particularly if you aren't the sprightly whipper-snapper you once were.
"Running Injury Free" had been my guide to navigate this aspect of training. It has proven to be an immensely helpful book but, like a lot of running books, it relies on the anecdotal storytelling that can be irritating to wade through. Having an idea what the heck is causing all these different aches and pains helps put my mind a bit more at ease - which makes the training a hell of a lot easier.