I completed my first week of real, intentional training since Boston was postponed in March. It may have been a tad too aggressive, considering I'd been averaging about 45 miles per week since May, but I'm stubborn enough that I'll pretty much do anything I have written in my calendar no matter the cost to my body and soul (I think that's a helpful trait in a runner as long as you're not prone to burnout or injury). I ended up with 89 miles total, including one easy workout, a 14-mile midweek run, and a 20-mile long run on Sunday. Here's what my week looked like overall:

The long run was the big focal point of the week, as is often the case with marathon training. It was 6:56 pace overall, so it was much slower than my 18-mile run from last week, but this one came at the end of my first big week in months, so I'm still pleased. My Thursday workout was similarly tepid, but each mile was faster than the one before it, which is the way I like my workouts to go, especially early in the morning. I'm satisfied that my workouts are going to make me a little faster and not interfere too much with my abbreviated base-building, which I think is going to be the most important aspect of this training cycle.

Strides should help to fill in the gaps between my hard sessions. Normally I tell myself I'll do them a few times and then just don't, but now that they're on the calendar I have to do them. I can't stand the shame of seeing an incomplete workout.

Running-wise, everything is heading in the right direction, but I definitely lack discipline in other areas. I have five weeks left, and if I want this aggressive training to go well I definitely need to put more effort into nutrition. Sleep is mediocre as well; I'm averaging a little more than 7.5 hours a night.

This upcoming week, I have a 10x(3:00 on / 2:00 off). In my head when I was writing it down, it sounded like an easier version of a medium-length tempo, but now it just sounds like a 50-minute slog. Right now I'm unimpressed by Past Corey's workout-writing skills, but hopefully by Friday I'll be a little more appreciative.