My last post was June 22nd which makes this post more than two months old. My bad.

Too much marathon-related stuff happened since then for me to cover so I’ll just hit one highlight and move onto today’s run. Last Saturday (as in 3 days ago) I set a new personal distance record of 15 miles. My previous record was 13.1 miles which worked out to be my half marathon run in San Diego. Unfortunately the 15 mile run was MUCH slower but I also didn’t feel like I was about to die when it was over.

Recently my shin splints have been acting up so I have gone from the normal schedule of rest day, short run, medium run, short run, rest day, long run, cross train to a more moderate rest day, cross train, medium run, cross train, rest day, long run, rest day. Even that schedule has sometimes slipped all the way to only 2 workouts per week – the long weekend run and the medium Wednesday run. This isn’t good.

In an attempt to get ‘back to basics’ and not ‘run like a slow bastard’ I changed things up tonight. I wore my light racing shoes which are not good for the shin splints but feel weightless. I did not wear a GPS or watch of any kind. What I did do was run fast – I’m talking 7:50 miles on the streets of Chicago baby. You may be asking ‘how does he know how fast he went if he had no watch’ … my only answer is I felt it. I have run enough now to know if I’m HAULIN’ over a 3 mile distance I’m running at or near a 7:50.

The marathon is less than 8 short weeks away and I’m getting pumped. I need to try to avoid injury at all cost which means stretching even when I don’t want to, cross training, and being smart about running surfaces (specifically trails and treadmills are good, pavement is not).

After my 15 mile run last weekend I’m starting to realize a 9 minute mile (or 4 hour marathon) is a dream at this point. I need to worry about finishing and everything else is gravy. I’ll say it once more for dramatic effect … I must finish. If I break 5 hours it’s great, if I break 4:30 it’s even better, but if I get stupid and run a 2 hour half I’m in for a world of pain starting around mile 14.

So that’s the plan. It sounds pretty simple. Theoretically it is very simple. That doesn’t change the fact I need to run another 225 miles before the marathon. But who’s counting?