3 miles

A break is a blessing in disguise. After the Akron half, I was confused and sad. It was too soon to begin a new program but I didn't want to end training. I was stuck in the old program I had created, afraid to move forward. Part of moving forward involved taking some time off. I took a week off after the Towpath half, then ran easy for another week, and then was forced to take off 10 days to heal a sore rib muscle. Those last 10 days were tough because the fall weather was beautiful and I had a good week of easy running prior to the injury. However, I came to realize the importance of taking time off. If you treat a break with the same mindset as running a hard workout (keep positive) it will be much easier to get through it. It also helped to just let loose, eat some fried food just cus, and most importantly, clear my mind of my old training program. Yesterday's run back truly felt like a new beginning.

And because the odds are stacked against me, it's not too early to start training for May's Cleveland Marathon. I need to build a good base for the long runs to come in February, March, and April. For the next couple of weeks, I won't do any speedwork or tempo runs but I will focus on building back up my long runs and start to slowly incorporate hills. My apartment complex is filled with hills that will provide challenging workouts when the winter comes. I am also close to the Sand Run portion of the Akron Marathon. It is a goal of mine to be able to attack that portion in workouts this upcoming year in an effort to be able to run Akron in the fall. I am not 100% sure of running that race for a fall marathon, but I have had two positive experiences with it thus far. It is tempting to choose that race, though it decreases the chances of qualifying for Boston. But that is way far in advance. First up, the Cleveland Marathon.