Winter sunshine in Small Town, Oregon
Photo by Matthew, age 4 - Each day is another chance to start fresh, to drop the yoke of yesterday, to throw the past into the sea! I need a fresh start today.
- I have been praying that God would show me how to love others, especially my family. My kids have some mysterious illness that left them with a rash. That was not the answer to prayer that I was looking for! Anyhow, I trust God is working this out to His good purpose. I am thankful to have a GOOD God, and that no illness lasts forever.
Running stuff
I registered for the Eugene Marathon ! There are so many reasons that I am looking forward to this race (More on that soon!).
After doing some base-building and easy running for several weeks, the intensity is starting to pick up. I am using Jack Daniels marathon plan A fairly closely, but without sticking tight to the long run time cap of 2 1/2 hours. Ending week 9 of 24, my goals right now are:
- to make the hard paces feel easier by doing interval work once a week- but not enough volume or speed to get hurt. (Following my VDOT training paces- if I can hit them!)
- make the slower, easy, long runs feel truly "easy" while adding mileage.
- alternate my weeks with some more challenging long runs: some T pace built-in, some marathon pace (coming up).
- keep testing fuels out in training and refueling immediately after a run. I am also cutting out all the night time snacks that have fiber, but drinking a cup of warm milk or hot chocolate before bed. Last week was gel week. This week is Powerade week. Powerade is cheap and probably has artificial colors (I have not read the label), but I can buy it here in the middle of nowhere. That's a bonus. I think I will try some powdered electrolyte drink mix soon, but leave it more concentrated. (Hydration is not really my main concern). The gels I have used (both Gu and Powerbar gel) work pretty well, since I can actually get more carbohydrates in during a workout through those than with a premix drink.
If you are interested in racing the Eugene Marathon and live in (or near) these cities: Eugene, Bend, Tualatin, Ashland, Salem, or Seattle , you can receive a 10$ discount by signing up in person, January 14th. Click HERE to find out more!
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Best wishes to all those racing or spectating the Olympic trials in Houston this weekend!