Last Run Before the Pfitzinger Plan Begins

I did my long run today, consisting of 14 miles. I kept a good pace and heart rate, with my heart rate staying under 150 until the 10th mile. I think my max heart rate is 183. I often find myself running too fast (too fast for my level/speed) on my long runs. After reading the Pfitzinger book this weekend, I was reminded once again to keep these runs slow, so as not to become too fatigued for the future runs for the week. Actually, Pfitzinger recommends starting at your marathon pace plus 20%, eventually moving on to marathon pace plus 10%. I'm not sure what my "marathon pace" is, but I think I'll be very happy with my first marathon to finish in under 4 hours, so perhaps my marathon pace is 9 minutes/mile? I'll probably adjust that slightly as the training progresses. My overall pace today was 9:36, compared to my pace last weekend in Campobello of 8:57 - although that was only 10.2 miles.

I did 34 miles for the week, plus ball hockey Tuesday. Week one of Pfitzinger's plan next week calls for a total of 33 miles, so I feel ok about it. My mileage the last few weeks has been affected by the fact that I've been in a race every two weeks since May 10th, but that will wrap up shortly.

I do my long runs solo, with Faith Ann staying home with Cameron. She does her long runs on Saturday. I almost always listen to podcasts when I run. Here are my usual selections:

Regular runs

Baseball Today (ESPN) - a staple during the baseball season. It's the only one of these I make sure not to miss
PTI (ESPN) - another sports show - I love Tony Kornheiser
The McLaughlin Group - I'm not a political junkie, but I kind of enjoy the banter on this show, between the very left and very right participants
The Vinyl Cafe - CBC Radio variety show. Sometimes funny, sometimes interesting, occasionally a little dull for me - but that's not always a bad thing while running.

Long Runs

Phedippidations - Steve Walker/Runner's weekly podcast on running. A good companion to a long run, I find.
This American Life - NPR weekly radio show, usually in documentary style. One of my favourites.
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me - NPR current affairs/comedy show, hosted by marathoner Peter Sagal
Prime Time Sports - Weeknight radio show out of Toronto.

There are also some comedy podcasts that I listen to when I'm not running, but for some reason they just don't fit my running mood.