6 days on....1 off

June 19: 1 week to the official start of my 18 week training prep for the MCM. I figured I would go ahead and get a jump on things by starting to get my life in sync with the 6 days of workouts per week. I went to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each day I did between 10 and 11 miles on the bike (the hill program on level 8 is actually quite challenging), followed by some lifting of weights. I decided that if I was going to start preparing for this race properly I might as well start to develop some upper body strength to go with the running. By no means am I trying to get to the point where you would see me with a shaved chest in the next Abercrombie & Fitch catalog, but just a little definition would help. Also, a lot of the stuff I have read about running indicated that lifting in moderation will actually benefit the runs. After lifting this week my arms felt like they were going to fall off. The pain was nuts, but that's what happens when you do no resistance training for a year and a half.

About 2 months ago I started to do some push ups, dips, and elevated push ups every night about...just to try to get some strength. After this week I felt like they had done nothing for me, even though I'm sure they helped. I had some good runs this week as well, and all but the long run were with a fellow Henrico officer.

1. 5 miles 46:26 - AVG HR - 189
2. 5.5 miles 52:40 - AVG HR - 186
3. 7 miles 1:10:13 - AVG HR - 176