Week 11 - In which I feel a little ground down

Well, I'm heading off to that conference in Portland, OR early Sunday, so not only will next week's running (and blog-posting) schedule be a little bit up in the air, but this week had to be shuffled around just a touch as well...Next week was supposed to be a light, rest-and-recovery week anyway, but this week's scheduled 18-miler doesn't seem like something I should skip, and since Sunday morning isn't really an option (I have no desire, particularly, to start running at 3:00 in the morning), I've pushed it back to Saturday and juggled the rest of the week a bit.

I have to say, though, that between the 17-miler last Sunday, the extra-enthusiastic stair-running on Monday (see below), and the rest of the exercises this week, this was really the first time that I feel like my body is just barely recovering in time for the next long run. My muscles are still feeling just a little tired, my knees and ankles are feeling just a tiny bit fussy, and all of that sort of thing. I'm still sure I'll be able to finish the 18 miles tomorrow, but I think I'm going to be grateful for the week of relative rest after that...

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Monday: It was a beautiful day outside on Monday, and I couldn't bear to do my cross-training at the gym. Unfortunately, since my bike was stolen (some time ago -- last Labor Day) the only outdoor cross-training I could think of was to run stairs. So, (10 x the Krannert steps) was what ended up happening. Something of a painful decision, I might add...

Tuesday: 5 x 1200 meters. Rough

Wednesday: 8 fast miles miles.

A shuffled-schedule day of rest on Thursday
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Of course, in addition to the week of relative rest that I'll be looking forward to, I'm also very excited about going to this conference. I think my talk still needs a bit of polishing, but since I'm not actually giving the talk until next Friday I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to make little refinements during the week. So, now the only thing left is for me to finish this infernal problem set I've been working on for the last few days... Unfortunately, it was scheduled to be due while I'll be away, so I have to finish it up tonight or early tomorrow and hand it in before I head out. Well, only one problem left on it, so hopefully it won't take too too much longer.

Alright, I'm not sure what the blog-updating plan is going to be over the next week. Regular posting will resume on the 28th. Until then...

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Friday: 7 miles - 6 on the treadmill and 1 mile of an extra-loopy run from the gym to my apartment.

Saturday: 18 miles tomorrow is the plan. In the rain. Is it strange that, even a bit sore and tired as I am, and with the threat of relatively nasty weather, I'm still kind of looking forward to the run?
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Part of the country soon to be checked off on my "to visit" list: Pacific Northwest.

Current estimate of my odds of completing a marathon on May 1st: 88%... that number is starting to creep pretty high, isn't it?