Marathon Training: Week 8

This week was a light week. Every fourth week is supposed to be a rest week, and this was mine. I thought about changing things up since I slacked off so bad in Week 6. But I decided I don't understand the ramifications of changing up the training plan, so I just stepped back in last week and continued on with the plan, as designed. This week's mileage total was 15 miles.

You have to give a program credit when one more mile just doesn't seem like that much. I haven't been afraid of a run, which makes it easier to get out there and do it. The eight-mile run yesterday was tough, but I really think that has more to do with the humidity in the air than anything else. The last two miles found me with a high heartrate and that's the marker for getting to feeling bad enough to have to walk. And, I did have to walk for about a tenth of a mile just to get my heartrate back down.

I also had a great chance to practice my biofeedback-esque heartrate lowering exercises. I use a combination of deep breathing and concentration to lower my heartrate and prolong a run before it becomes a walk. I've had pretty decent success in the past with it, but yesterday I was too distracted to make it work quite right. I did still prolong my run, just not quite far enough. But, I learned some valuable things about the process that I can use in the future.