Saturday, January 10, 2009

End of the Preseason

Yesterday marked the end of my preseason training program-- an occasion "celebrated" with a 13 mile run followed by 15 short hill repeats. The nice thing, and what demonstrates progress to me, is that I don't have to psych myself up in the same way that I used to have to for these 10+ mile runs. I just gear up and go, knowing it will just take a while.

One of the treats for me on these longer runs is that I take along and listen to the latest podcast of Whad'ya Know with Michael Feldman. This is a two-hour Saturday morning NPR radio variety program with guests, a call-in quiz show, some music, and a lot of improvisational humor. Then several times during the course of my run, I find myself laughing out loud, sometimes to the detriment of my running. This week he had on a writer named Joe Queenen who was astonishing. He would love to be described as astonishing - in his mind, the most overused work in book reviews.

My foot continues to plague me although I didn't have any of the pinpoint acute pain I've been having. However, the day after a long run it is very sore. I bought yet another pair of running shoes - the Imelda Marcos of running footwear. It seemed that while my sweaty summer feet fill my Asics, they swim a bit in there in the winter. I'm trying a pair of Mizunos from Runabout. That is a great store - I highly recommend it and James and his staff are amazing. They have more patience than I.

So this week will start the 16 week marathon training program. It's pretty daunting to see what JRP has laid out, but I will just take it one day and one week at a time.