The Training Week That Was... 5/19-25

"Our society today has become so quick-fix oriented that nobody wants to work over a long period of time for one goal."~Terry Stanley, Winner of two Presque Isle Marathons, 28 years apart

My second go around with the FIRST training philosophy is completed with the culmination of yesterday's Buffalo Marathon and while I await the posting of the official results, one thing that is certain is that I did a much better "job" this time than in previous attempts. I came closer to reaching my potential than in races (at this distance) past, but there is still room for improvement... something I'll go into detail a little later once I've had time to process and reflect upon my performance.

RESULTS UPDATE: Since posting my short recollection and photos of yesterday's race, the official results for the Buffalo Marathon have been posted and I faired pretty well (actually, my chip-time was 23 second better than I had previously thought!). With an official finishing time of 3:26:37, I "placed" 106 of 710 finishers (815 registered), 87 of 480 finishers in my gender grouping, 17 of 66 in my gender/age group.

Not much to report in the recap below, given it was "taper time":

Legend: R = Running, ri = recovery interval, ez = easy, mt = mid-tempo, wu = warm-up, cd = cool down, ez = easy, B = Bicycle

Thursday: (Key Run Workout #1--Speed Work) R 3.9 mi
Sunday: Nissan Buffalo Marathon R 26.2 mi
TOTAL--R 30.1 miles (+7.2 miles from the previous week)
Weigh-In*: 181.0 lbs. (-2 lbs. from the previous week) [* @ 6:30 a.m. on 5/26]

For the first time ever, following a run of this distance, I did not step into the chute thinking to myself "I never want to do this again." So, the question is, "where do we go from here?" My first thoughts while coming down the final mile where not of running another marathon or ultra, but rather of riding my bicycle in a leisurely fashion and taking in the world around me... slowly.

But, tomorrow is another day, and probably a better time for thoughts of things to come... at least in terms of running.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!