One Week Until Boston 2014

     It has certainly been a while since I have posted anything to this blog, but that does not mean there has not been a lot going on in my running life. Today is the "one week away" point before the 2014 Boston Marathon.
     After Rock 'n' Roll Denver I took two weeks off and then fought an IT Band injury for the entire month of November. Finally, in December I was able to start running again and build a bit of a base. On January 1, I began my training cycle for Boston. It will be a 15 and a half week training block by the time next Monday rolls around. I have logged a good amount of miles, had some good workouts and long runs, had some bad runs, and some "minor" injuries/ailments along the way.
     The heavy part of this cycle happened from week 8 to week 3. That was six weeks of 100+ miles to build my strength and get my body ready (once again) for the pounding of 26.2 miles. The mileage totals for those weeks were:

     Week 8 - 109.23
     Week 7 - 109.81
     Week 6 - 112.59
     Week 5 - 126.75 (highest mileage week)
     Week 4 - 112.49
     Week 3 - 114.13

     Most of my training (I would say 85%) is done alone. My friend and co-worker at First Gear Running Company, Javier Ceja, has definitely been the closest thing to a training partner as I have had, though. We have ran together several times, sporadically, but his biggest help was when he ran with me for 18 of the 25 miles during my peak long run. 
     I am really starting to taper down this week. I put in just over 10-miles today and will do the same tomorrow. I will double up on Wednesday with 8-miles with a 4-mile tempo in the morning (my last workout), and 4 easy miles at the First Gear track night, giving me a little over 12-miles for the day. Thursday and Friday will be 8-mile days, and Saturday and Sunday will be easy 6-6.5-mile days. I started feeling some rejuvenation in my legs last week, so I hope that continues.
     Early Saturday morning my mom and I will leave Wichita for Boston. I hope to get to packet pickup Saturday afternoon so I don't have to deal with it Sunday, the day before the race.
     I cannot wait to feel the magic in the air next Monday!
     -Logan