I was surfing around my favorite Jersey Shore sites and found this recent picture from along the course of the Ocean Drive marathon showing the boardwalk covered in snow .. its kind of symbolic for the way the winter has gone so far for our region and with my training ..

I also found a real cool video detailing the latest storm down in Wildwood as well (where the race runs through). Again, I think its real fitting for how things have gone. Just think, in exactly 6 weeks, i’ll be running that snow covered course .. its hard to picture right now and I hope the snow is gone by then.

dth=”325″ height=”244″>[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf1uhI0p9qU&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

So anyway, I guess its safe to say that i’m satisfied with the results of my new attitude towards training, I managed to get my 20 miles in yesterday, at a 9:00/mile pace and got another 10 miles on hills today … and we’re talking hills (this is the course) I do have some concerns as of this point with my fitness level and have dedicated myself to making the next 6 weeks of training really count .. the reason I have concerns is that although I did the 20 miles yesterday, I felt myself struggling to finish it and i’m not sure why. It could be due to factors that are out of my control, like the weather and the fact I was pretty well frozen up despite my efforts to stay dry, but with the unpredictable weather in Cape May in late March, I have to be prepared regardless. I really worked hard to motivate myself during a tough uphill stretch at mile 17 .. once I conquered that hurdle, it was all downhill from there..

The best way that I can think to address my concerns is to look back on the success I had last fall between the Lehigh Valley Health Network marathon and the Baltimore marathon for tips on how I could improve my fitness. I believe I really kicked it up a notch in that period last year, so i’ve pretty much copied that training for the next several weeks because I’m at the same point in training now. We’re talking hills, miles, speed work, etc.. the only thing that can slow me down is snow (and there is some predicted for tomorrow night). My other commitment is to stay away from bad foods, which is a struggle since there is a ton of chocolate laying around today due to valentines day.. Anyway, focusing on eating the right foods, in the right amounts is going to help.

So its halfway through February now, so spring is really right around the corner … the sun is getting warmer and brighter and the days are getting longer, there are only good things on the horizon.

I think I wrote the other day about my cold has now moved into my chest, I have a pretty good cough at this point, however I don’t think its affecting me. The worst part of the cold is over as far as i’m concerned…