My marathon training: Week 2

Week 2: Rest on Sunday; 4 easy miles on Monday; 6 miles of hills on Tuesday; rest on Wednesday; 5 easy miles on Thursday; 5 easy miles on Friday; 9-mile long run on Saturday. Total: 29 miles.

For the second week in a row, I hit all my marks on all my designated days, on the nose. I slightly kicked up the pace of my "easy" runs to about 8:41-8:42, did the hills at 8:04, and the long run at an 8:27 average clip.

Since I've got the Lake Norman Triathlon coming up, I also threw in a 26-mile ride Wednesday evening (the route included most of the LKN bike course) and 1,600 meters at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on Thursday morning.

I was up in the Philadelphia area over the weekend, and going into it, I wasn't looking forward to Saturday's long run -- mainly because I had to do it solo, and I hate running alone when I've gotta be out there for more than an hour.

But it turned out to be the highlight of the training week. I felt better than I have in weeks (very little knee pain!), it was a challenging run (with plenty of rolling hills), and the completely-new-to-me route -- which traversed the Philly suburbs of Lansdowne, Drexel Hill, Springfield and Clifton Heights -- kept boredom at bay as I passed through interesting neighborhoods, both richer and poorer. Would have been better with friends, but it was still far more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined it would be; makes me want to see as many cities as I can this way.

Now, as for my strict adherence thus far to the Yasso training plan I'm following: While I do think some of my OCD tendencies are playing into how I'm approaching it, I don't plan to keep this up forever.

I expect to modify it soon, in fact, as I have several conflicts (vacations, races, etc.) that will cause shakeups. Plus, I'm aware that ITB issues can flare up for me at any time, so I have to be ready to hold back if I'm having pain. I guess the reason I'm trying to follow it so closely now is because the first few weeks of the plan are so (relatively) easy. Plus, I'd like to say I at least stuck with it for a little while; next month, it'll be rejiggered thanks to a trip overseas and a late tri-training push (LKN is Aug. 23).

I'm not saying it's gonna be easy to divert from the guidelines. But as a new running buddy, Allen, wisely reminded me last week: "Everybody responds to training differently, and to perform at your best, you have to find what really works for you. ... Don't fall into the 'I-must-follow-this-plan-exactly-no-matter-what' -- I made that mistake last marathon and got hurt (was very sore on my long day and felt like I had to complete the full 16 miles on that day because that's what my plan said to do). Be flexible."

I'll be trying my best to do so. Hope you will, too.

Thoughts or advice regarding my training? Want to share stories about how your own plan is going? Fire away!