And then there was one.......

Runner that is....So last night I was hit with the news that my training partner, Paul, has decided that he can't make the morning commitments to be a running partner. That's a big blow to the training plan, because a large majority of the reason I'm up and out there is because I made that commitment to be there. Sure there have been a couple of setbacks here and there, but in large, we were a good team and making significant strides. So, at least until '09, these morning runs are going to have to be done SOLO. I still have the running group 3-4 times per week, it was those extra two days that really helped to the trick. I do understand his reasoning. He and his wife just had a new baby, and these first few weeks of sleepless nights have really been pretty tough to adjust to. He's said his wife ends up sleeping on the couch to be closer to the baby when it's time to take action. This is similar to the situation I had, only mine wasn't a newborn, it was being a small business owner of a small coffee house, and having to deal with the day to day issues of what seemed like 13 newborns. That was the main driving factor to why I was never making any progress in running goals, and my times progressively got slower and slower.

But, I need to keep to the task at hand, and keep making strides forward, even if it's in the O Dark early hours of the morning. Today I set out on the standard Friday run of 5.6 miles. Nothing real significant to report there. The time by myself allowed me to totally restructure my training plan to the next level. I'm constantly figuring out ways to juggle the schedule around and get in quality miles. I'm coming up on that next phase where I need to intorduce that mid week long run into the plan. So, starting the first Wednesday in December, I'm going to up my hour long run to 1:30. That not only will get in some quality miles, it's starts adding to that base to the Sunday Long Runs. I'm hoping that next week I'll hit the big 5-0! Yep...that would be 50 miles in a Single week. That's a big challenge, but I'm extrememly confident my legs can handle it. Here's a preview of what's on tap:

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 5miles
Wednesday - 7 Miles
Thursday - 7 Miles
Friday - 5 Miles
Saturday - 8 Miles
Sunday - 16 MIles

Very doable, if you ask me. And nothing too taxing. The 7 mile says are right at an hour. The 5 mile days are around 45 minutes. Sturdays a mile repeate speed workout and then Sunday is the long run. I may even bust out more miles since it's Thanksgiving week, and I have 2 days off from work. We'll just have to play it by ear and run by feel.

Well, until tomorrow.....LIVESTRONG and Trian Hard....


P.S. GO CARDINALS! SHOCK THE WORLD ON SUNDAY!