So it was 4 1/2 months ago when I first committed to running the Inaugural Santa Barbara International Marathon.  April 27th to be exact, about 7 1/2 months prior to the marathon.  Normally 5 or 6 months of preparation is adequate for a decent marathon performance but because my training has been inconsistent and marred by injuries in recent years, I gave myself some extra time.

Boy am I glad I did. While (knock on wood) today I feel perfectly fine, I've dealt with plenty of setbacks these first 19 weeks of training...sore toe, sore knee, debillitating back spasm, sore throat, cold, fever, you name it.  But I'm back and feeling good once again!

Last week I ran a total of 51 miles, with a long run of 18 on Sunday morning.

Weekly training has gone like this:

Week 1 (4/27-5/3): 38 miles (6.5 long run)

Week 2 (5/4-5/10): 35 (8 long)

Week 3 (5/11-5/17): 46 (9 long)

Week 4 (5/18-5/24): 42 (8.5 long)

Week 5 (5/25-5/31): 43 (10.5 long)

Week 6 (6/1-6/7): 40 (ran a 10K race)

Week 7 (6/8-6/14): 30 (sick/flu)

Week 8 (6/15-6/21): 41 (10.5 long)

Week 9 (6/22-6/28): 47 (12.5 long)

Week 10 (6/29-7/5): 50 (11 long)

Week 11 (7/6-7/12): 51 (15 long)

Week 12 (7/13-7/19): 57 (19.4 long)

Week 13 (7/20-7/26): 57 (21 long)

Week 14 (7/27-8/2): 25 (vacation week)

Week 15 (8/3-8/9): 34 (back spasm on 8/7)

Week 16 (8/10-8/16): 38 (ran with back brace)

Week 17 (8/17-8/23): 50 (15.5 long, hilly trail run)

Week 18 (8/24-8/30): 41 (hot weather/smoke, 7 long)

Week 19 (8/31-9/6) 51 (18 long)

So what's next?  The last 3 weeks of training pre-marathon are tapering time.  That leaves 10 weeks of "real" training.  I need to get 2 or 3 20 milers in the bag to feel comfortable.  With that I'll seek to push into the 60+ mile per week range if I can (which if I blog a bit less I'll get to bed earlier I'll have more time to run in the a.m....).

I also need to do some local races to "tune up" a bit and gauge my fitness level.  First up is the Pt Mugu Half Marathon on September 19th.  There are a number of fun 5K/10K events coming up too. When I run a race in preparation for a marathon, I don't take it too seriously.  The main goal is the marathon.  But it still feels good to race and stimulate the few fast twitch fibers left in this old long distance runner's body.