Well, two days off + one yoga class = feeling much better. I did a 2 mi warm up and 4 mi tempo run on the treadmill today. It felt a little tough around the half-way point, but I was really happy that I hung with it. I would have like to do 8, but I needed to get back to get ready for the moving appraisal guy. I'll plan to do about 8 tomorrow, 8 with speed on Thursday, and 8 on Saturday, which will put me at 30 miles this week. Just fine because it's a back down week.
The main thing is that I need to remind myself that this training "cycle" is about adding speed, not endurance- although I guess the 1/2 marathon training is both. So rather than trying to ramp up to 50 mpw before my 1/2, I'm going to try to stay in the neighborhood of 35-40mpw. From experience, that's the highest milage my body is comfortable with, so I should stay in that zone but add intensity. After the 1/2 marathon I can hold the intensity constant (say one 3-4 mi tempo run and one run with 4-5 800s or even just fartlek-type stuff) while I increase my milage. I think if I can get comfortable in the 45-50 mile range by January I'll be set to do the Pfitz or Ulitmate Marathon training program without problems. Ideally I'd like to be able to start around 45mi and peak at 60, but that may not be realistic this year.
