Eight Miles Down

You might have noticed running blogged about with lessening frequency this year.

Well, with only two 5K's so far, I didn't expect anyone wanted to read about the latest training - nor did I want to write about it.

Since it's about to become my focus outside of work until May, it's going to become a lot more common. I'm not going to dog it through the Country Music Half Marathon, and so far, training has gone well.

I've mentioned the folks I'm training with, my buddy from work, his wife and his brother. They have run the half marathon before, and mapped a route through suburban Brentwood for training. By adding loops to the normal course, we're up to eight miles with seven weeks till the big morning.

Until that morning, every weekend must include at least one ordeal. My training comes in two doses. During the week, the Cumberland River Greenway is my new evening running spot, with four-nights-a-week jogs starting in the 5K/4-mile range and building to six miles in the coming weeks.

On the weekend, the long run is critical to increased endurance. Yesterday marked the move to 8 miles, which Ric, my buddy from work, had already done several times.

Two days earlier, Nashville received its first real snowfall since I arrived; snow still clung to the shady spots, but couldn't combat the shift to 50-degree afternoons.

My improved endurance from the weekday runs showed yesterday, as I didn't sputter until the final mile, when a combination of leg cramps, sore tendons and hunger pains (don't ask me why) forced me into mini-interval mode.

I might lurch down the hallways at work with Frankenstein's gait, but in late April it will be worth it.