40+ 50+

The week before MP and I left on our Adironack quest of glory, I did something that I may never had done before. I topped 40 miles in one week.

I knew that I had a habit of hovering in the 30s, so I looked back in my training log to see if I had ever topped 40 miles in a week before. Back in April 2009 I had a 38.9 mile week. That's as close as my records show. Maybe back in 2007 or 2006, before I started logging my miles, I could possibly have topped 40. But even on a week that included a marathon, I think I would have only run 3 other days for short distances.

Three marathons, a few half marathons, three RTB relays and countless other races trained for and I had never topped 40 miles. That 44.9 mile week in August ushered me into new territory. A month and a half later, it remains my only week in the 40s. Nursing a couple injuries, then running my fourth RTB Relay, my miles again hovered in the 20s or 30s. That is, until last week. Sunday capped my first ever 50+ mileage week.

James and I celebrate a good run and supurb week with hotdogs

I'm feeling great. My legs are strong. But my goal of Boston qualifying still seems ambitious. I have less than six weeks left till race day and three weeks until the tapering starts. I have one more leg strengthening session at the gym and a trip to the Chicago Marathon with TNT in a couple weeks. I have to somehow fit some quality long runs in with some solid marathon pace miles. I'll have to stay disciplined, stay the course of my training calendar, and let the numbers take care of themselves. I'm kind of getting excited.