[4/13/12] Ahhh Friday the 13th never felt so... GREAT! :)

Just a couple of quick updates! I would like to thank my mom's friend Fadwa Samara for supporting my cause and my training! Thank you so much for your contribution! :)

Once again... I'm happy to say that I'm right on track with my training! Here's the result of my long run on Thursday!

So... this one definitely has a story... I actually hadn't prepared to run that far yesterday but after looking at the weather this upcoming weekend, I decided to just up my timetable a little bit and do my long run earlier rather than later (because I have an exam coming up next Friday!). This was both a good idea and a bad idea... Good idea because this run really showed me that I'm still on track (even though I'm a second slower per mile split, something that I'll be addressing during my next long run). Bad idea, however, because I don't think I prepared for this long run as well as I should have. I ended up with a really bad stomach ache because of what I ate earlier in the day and a sore right knee. I'm currently taking a lot of precautions with the knee because the last thing I need is to get injured so I will not do another long run for a couple of weeks to give it time to heal!

This doesn't mean, however, that I will stop training! I will be going to the gym like normal and I will continue riding the bike and using the elliptical to take the pressure off my knees. Since I'm pretty confident now with my ability to complete 13.1 miles, I'm going to start focusing on speed training to increase my running stride and turnover rate (how fast I transition from the left foot strike to the right foot strike). What this means is I'm going to begin running 5K/10K distances on my own and testing my ability to complete those runs in a decent time. That will be my focus starting at the end of April/beginning of May. I will probably transition back into doing half marathon distances once I start hitting the 6:50 mile pace at the 5K and 10K levels I need to complete a sub 1:30:00 half marathon. I definitely believe I can do it and I'm praying that God will keep me healthy throughout this journey!

Stay tuned! Till next time!!

Marc :)