I got out for a short run on Saturday morning to loosen up my legs a little more. My recovery from last Sunday’s race has gone well .. my legs feel strong and I’ve actually caught up on my sleep (finally). I can’t say i’ve been eating as good as I should be, but thats what a recovery week is for, to eat some stuff that maybe i’ve deprived myself of during training (because deep down inside, we all love to eat right?) I figure today will be the worst day for eating for me since I have a family party planned to celebrate Fathers Day and we’re cooking out on the grill … normal stuff, hot dogs, burgers, bratwurst, chicken, etc .. I can’t wait.

I’ve worked to finish up the second leg of summer training in preparation for the fall season. As I wrote the other day, I decided to do Pftizingers 70/12 plan which I think is perfect for me at this point. I bought the “Advanced Marathoning” book a few years back when I ran my first marathon, but the training plans were too many miles for me back then. I opened up and read the book again to get some inspiration and motivation this week to help me get serious about running and training again. Last Sundays miserable finish in the race made me realize that something has to change in how I approach training because my performance is going down instead of up … So I’ve modified my training to ensure i’m getting enough recovery time between workouts, and that they are coming at the right points and that i also have the right amount of intensity for each workout. Recently, I feel like i’ve just been running and not actually training except for my “speed” workout which always came on a Thursday. I have the training goals plugged into my Garmin trainer watch to ensure i’m hitting the right zones during my workouts.. I just hope it all comes together.

Another step i’ve taken is to add more crosstraining to my schedule besides just lifting weights. I decided to go out and buy a road bike yesterday (although I have to go pick it up yet). I have at least 1 workout a week scheduled for it, but will see where else I can plug it in.. (seems like an expensive toy for a single workout a week). There is still more gear to pickup (helmet, outfits, etc) prior to heading out, plus I have to read up on the rules of the road..

So I’m actually excited about the changes in my training, which I think is the right attitude to have. Usually at this point after a race, I’m falling back into the normal running schedule that I’ve been doing for way too long, so it does feel good to not be doing that..

I can only see good things coming from here …