I have not had an re-occurrence of the back pain from last Saturday in the 27 miles I ran this week already, so I think thats a good thing. I still intend to scale it back intensity-wise just a bit so that I don’t re injure anything. I made it through to my scheduled day off tomorrow …. I got out for a nice 6 miler this morning, and although I was tired, it went fairly well.

I’ve noticed a little soreness/odd feeling in my left knee, i’m not sure what it is. I’m hoping the day off tomorrow (the actual 50+ hours between running) will help heal up any issues. There is no real pain in it at all, just feels a little sore here and there. It might just be an over-use type injury, I guess I don’t know. My lower back still gets achy, like it always does, but again, there is no pain … I know the difference between sore/achy and pain.

I’ve just about finished up my training schedule for the rest of the year, I’m just over 11 weeks away from Harrisburg and just over 7 weeks to Steamtown, I still have a long way to go. After that, i’ll be a week out from the Diamond Run, which I intend to run again .. and then we change gears a bit, let me explain.

Since I see myself straying a bit from running (getting bored with it), my therapist (yep, i need help) helped me make the decision that I need to work to achieve something different. By November, I’ll have completed 5 marathons .. which means 5 training cycles, along with the countless training sessions for half marathons and other runs. Its time to upgrade to something else …. I will be attempting to train for my first triathlon next spring (probably a sprint version), and then maybe complete the WB Triathlon in August (maybe a few smaller ones in between there for experience). I also intend to continue running as my primary sport, however change pace a little bit towards trail running .. I like what I hear about these Pretzel Sport runs in the Lehigh Valley, they really sound like fun. That seems to be a lot of what is missing anymore, the fun of running. When I think about how many years (5+) that I have been running, it does get dry after awhile … plus my body is starting to tell me I can’t keep doing 50-60 mile weeks … I’m up for the challenge though, and will post more as I make other decisions.

Of course, the worst part of doing something like that is the investment in getting new outfits (for biking/swimming), purchasing a bike/helmet & gear and other things. I’ll slowly work into it, and my biggest fear is the swimming part, but I have time to work on it. I can swim for the most part, i’m just not good at it. I figure that I have December, January and February to fine-tune my swimming skills since its crappy outside anyway. I think thats another reason why I decided to go this route, training last year for a marathon in the winter just doesn’t work well. It was really hard to do. This way I can train indoors for the most part, and when spring gets here, take those skills outside without too much difference. I’m not sure where i’ll swim yet (maybe at the local college, or at the YMCA, not sure), but I’ll figure it out. This will also give me a chance to start using weights again, I think I got too far away from it …..biggest thing i’m worried about is keeping my weight down during that process.

Anyway, theres still work to be done before I go that route, and I have to finish what i’ve started. I’m still excited about doing the marathons this fall, but not quite like I was, so I know its time for a change. I’ll write more as the training winds down about what the future has to hold…..

Well, its time to enjoy the rest day …