Following my goal race, last week was a bit of a transition week. The 18th marked 18 weeks from my 2nd date with a marathon and marathon training officially began yesterday. Last week was spent doing a lot of cross training both to help myself mentally and to help Richie get back in the saddle after his calf injury. By the end of the week, both goals were accomplished. Here’s how it went:

Monday AM: 30 minutes stair master + 40 minutes stationary bike + upper body strength
Monday PM: 4 miles with Alice at 10:17 pace
Tuesday AM: 7.79 miles with Richie at 8:41 pace
Wednesday AM: 20 minutes stationary bike + 45 minutes stair master
Friday AM: 45 minutes stair master
Saturday AM: 15 miles with Richie at 7:58 pace

Total: 26.79 miles running + cross training

Not a bad week all things considered. The stairmaster is a tough workout. It’s the one that actually looks like stairs and works like climbing the down escalator. That definitely got the heart rate up. The temperature has finally cooled down here and the 15 mile run on Saturday morning felt great. Unfortunately, when I stepped out of the shower afterward, I seem to have developed a little tendinitis on the side of my left foot. It’s not horrible, but I think I’m better off giving it a few days to heal completely rather than fighting it for the next 18 weeks. Looks like I might be hitting the bike for 30 miles tomorrow!