9 weeks to go!

I realized today that I have been back in the Vancouver area for over a year now. It seems like a lot longer somehow, it has been a very eventful year but here I am again gearing up for the Ottawa Marathon. I received confirmation this week that the race organizers would be paying for my travel and hotel which is excellent, being the starving student-athlete that I am. It is coming up quick! I feel a lot less pressure this time around and also more confident in my training. The consistency has been great and I have managed to stay healthy. I have made it a priority to get a massage every week which is helping a lot, and of course having Richard as a coach has been invaluable. I have had my doubts as to whether I will be able to get fit enough to make the team for Berlin due to the time constraints I have put on myself with school and other things but with 9 weeks to go and my current fitness level, I am starting to feel some confidence that I will be able to make the team.

Today it was just myself and Richard on the bike out for a 3 loop 13.95k progression run in stanley park which turned into more of a tempo run I suppose. I went through the loops in 15:18, 15:05, 15:02 for an average time of 5:12.5/mile for 8.67miles. The course has some good hills on it so I am really happy with the way things went. With the few hill sessions I have done in the past few weeks I was able to really run strong up the hills and maintain good form throughout the run.

I suppose one of the other reasons I am feeling more confident is because I had an overall good week of training with an 18mile long run, great hill session on wednesday and the tempo session today, rounding out the week at about 92miles or so in 9 runs. I am really happy with the way my body is adjusting to the volume increase and will likely add another 5 miles or so this week. None of this really seems remarkable except for the fact that my training has been consistent and incremental. Who knew that it would lead to confidence and fitness! I see good things on the horizon, welcome spring.