Nine Weeks of Training Down....Nine More Weeks To Go!

I am officially at the halfway point of my training in terms of time (I have a few more weeks to hit the halfway point in terms of mileage).  I feel good - no injuries, and I'm running faster while exerting less energy - and I have been able to keep to the plan through the months of January and February.

Up until now the training plan has slowly stepped up my mileage about 1 mile per week starting at 15 miles nine weeks ago until last week's 25 miles (and this week's "stepback" week of 24 miles).  However, that will all change in the second half of the program.

Next week I jump from 24 miles to 29 miles for the week, then up to 32 miles.  After a stepback week of 29 miles I jump to 36 miles for the week.  And then two weeks later I'll peak at 40 miles.  That's a lot of miles to cover over the next few weeks.

Another thing that I'm a bit surprised about:  we have not received much snow yet in the Washington DC area this winter.  In winters past, if we would have little to no snow in December or January, we would get dumped on big-time in February.   Well...it's March 2 and we still haven't seen the big snow yet.  Will it come?  Or can I expect for the temperatures to get warmer soon?  (for my running's sake, I hope it's the later...).

One last thing....      Don't get too excited...I'm not Steve Jobs saying that in an Apple keynote ;-)

This is my 99th post to the blog.  At the end of the 9th week of my training plan.  Pretty cool, eh?

I have received many thank-you's offline for blogging.  It has become part of the daily routine for some to check my blog, it has kept some others motivated in their goal to continue running or lose weight.  My blog has also become a "first page Google hit" for searches such as "running with ear pain" and "Spirit of Marathon Blog".  Keep the feedback coming and comment often!