One Week Down, 23 To Go!

I have a bit of catching up to do in the training blog. I wrapped up last week with runs on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama while traveling with football. Our team hotel was in an industrial park, and I wasn’t quite as adventurous with a late afternoon arrival on Friday. Instead I ran 6.2 miles on the treadmill in the hotel. On Saturday, I felt like exploring the area a bit, so I ran another 6.2 miles in and around the hotel. Birmingham is quite hilly, as shown by this elevation chart from my run. Needless to say, the pace wasn’t very quick.

So I wrapped up week one of my 24-week plan at 50 miles, just as I had hoped. I’m backing off a bit this week, down to 45 miles, and will head down to 40 the following week before going back up to 55 in week four.

Yesterday (Sunday), I started my second week of training with an 8-miler in my neighborhood of West University. Unfortunately, the hot weather has returned to Texas for a few days, and my Sunday run was completed in high humidity and 87-degree heat. Yuck. Today was a little better for two laps around the campus loop and another 6.2 miles. I head to Indianapolis tomorrow for NCAA baseball meetings, cooler weather, and better running conditions. I’m looking forward to it!