New running buddies and a plan of sorts.

Week 1 of assistant coaching Lyons Lions. It's nice to have some folks to run with.

As of this Saturday, I have 22 weeks until the marathon. I decided to do some variation of Jack Daniels' Running Formula (24-week) marathon plan "A" or whatever--the one that's not for elites and not for beginners. This means I have 4 more weeks of base training to get my mileage up to the maximum it will be for the "season." I have no idea what kind of mileage I'm shooting for though. Somewhere between 45 and 60, I guess? Hmm... Also a lot of my miles aren't exactly "marathon pace" since I'm pacing the Lions on their workout days... We'll see what happens I suppose. Surf City is supposedly a pretty fast course. Something like 350 of its finishers this year qualified for Boston. Apparently I need a sub-3:35 to qualify, which is something like 8:10/mile. Sounds very doable, but it's probably a lot harder than it seems.

8.29.2011 - 9.4.2011

Monday: Met with Coach Roberts and Miriam, then went out for a run. I was pretty excited that he wanted me as a coach. :) 9 miles on the Picture Rock trail. Pretty quick at first before dropping into a comfy and slow pace.

Tuesday: First workout with the Lions. Supershort warm-up, stretching, leg swings, drills, long warm-up (2 miles), then joined Miriam, Mark, and some of the guys for part of their tempo (15 of 22 minutes) before having to leave for work at Ma's. 5 miles today including warm up and cool down. (Note: decided today that I'm not in good enough shape to pace Miriam. But her dad seems to have that covered, so I'll try running with the other girls.)

Wednesday: 4 miles easy with some of the girls (Izzy, Olivia, Kelsey, Hazel... etc.? I need to be better with names.)

Thursday: 12 minutes warm up, some hills (3x30sec), a sort of progression/tempo run (1k moderate and untimed, then 2k timed, aiming for a faster second half), more hills (3x20 sec), 10 minute cool down. Ran the tempo with Olivia (#2 runner on the girls' team) and Ethan (fellow Ma's worker). Olivia didn't seem to have much trouble keeping a 7:20 pace though Coach R. thought she should run 7:45's, so that's pretty cool. Ethan dropped back in the final bit but ran valiantly. 4 miles today. Oh, then core with Hazel, who says core is "the only thing she's good at." Apparently she does sit-ups "when she needs to think," and she wants to be in the military. Needless to say she showed me up a little. (2 sets of "hanging abs," leg lifts, and crunches). 22 miles so far this week...

Friday: Off. Met with the new manager at Ma's. No no, not Ma's. It's now Pizza Bar 66. Lots of new changes, all likely for the best.

Saturday: 8.3 miles with the Lions on the Switzerland Trail in Boulder Canyon. Coach R wanted us to start slow and speed up as the run progressed. I ran with Miriam because she was all alone and lonesome-like. And vulnerable to attacks from large mammals. She did a pretty good job of setting the pace. Towards the end her dad caught up to us and made us run faster, which she seemed displeased about. I kind of agree with her. She doesn't need to be running 7:20 pace for a long run at 8500'. Tasty breakfast after.

Sunday: Off I think... Worked all day, makin' the cash money.

Sum: 30.3. Ahhh! Need to run more miles!!