Just in case any of you readers began to think I had lost a bit of my crazy runner brain, rest assured, I have not.

I took it easy over the summer. I ran less, biked more and swam more. As the weather began to get cooler though, the desire to run becomes greater. As a general rule I hate the cold, but winter is my favorite time of the year to run. This winter so far has been kind to me, speed wise, and most importantly, my back/hip seem to be holding up.

So today marks the beginning of my unofficial training. I’m giving my back a couple more long runs before I click register, but I’m shooting for marathon number 3 on February 14 (yes Valentines Day) in Myrtle Beach. I’m jumping in a few weeks into the training program, but since I just ran a half a couple weeks ago I feel like I have enough of a base to do so. I’m loosely following Hal Higdeons Novice 2 plan again. I’m training for this one on only 3 runs a week, so I’m following the long runs,  doing one pace/speedwork run and one longer midweek run.

Today, I completed week 8. Week 8’s long run is 15 miles, and this was literally my longest run in a year – my last 15 mile run was in early December of 2013, just a few weeks before I injured myself, so I was a little nervous.

I stopped 4 times to quickly hydrate and stretch, and did notice some hamstring tightness and periodic tingling (for lack of a better description, particularly when I’d go up or down the sidewalk) in my left leg the last 5 miles. The tingling concerns me a bit, but I see the chiropractor and get fitted for orthotics Monday so I’m hoping both of these things will help.

Pace wise, though, at 8:45, I totally nailed it!

Miles hung out with my while I stretched
Miles hung out with my while I stretched

10 weeks to go! Bring on the weekly recaps and (hopefully) another marathon under my belt.