Minor setback

The skeleton of my training schedule will follow so you people know how I'm beating myself down on a day-to-day basis.

Saturday, for example, are the gold coin into the savings bank of my training -- the pace run. The thinking behind PMP training (proposed marathon pace, per Runner's World columnist/Brigham Young track and field coach Ed Eyestone) is getting your body used to that race pace. In my case, that's 7:27 a mile for a Boston qualifying time of 3:15. There. I said it. Karma is now banging on the door, demanding reparations.

The first few of these (last week's 3-miler, today's 4-miler, and the next two, possibly) I'm running on the treadmill at the gym, in part because I have very few routes mapped out in my new surroundings and in part because after 25 years of running I still don't know what a 7:27 mile, let alone 26 of them, feels like. So I get on the treadmill, dial up the pace and hammer away.

Last week I had no problem putting down three of them, all the more impressive considering I'd run 14 miles the day before. Well, today I pulled up at 2.5 miles, walked a bit, then cranked the pace back up before finally bailing at 3.7 miles. My breathing was shallow and my heart rate was in the red zone. Given a recent revelation that Ironman and marathon training are all about pushing the red line out further and further over the course of several weeks, I can't help but be disappointed.

Tomorrow's an 18-miler though I don't know if I'll go that far. It's cereal time now.

Monday: 4-mile recovery run, easy jog on the treadmill until I get some more post-work daylight.
Tuesday: Speed work. Plan calls for intervals and repeats instead of tempo runs. Hmmm.
Wednesday: Bike ride
Thursday: Long-ish run of between 7 and 12 miles.
Friday: Swim.
Saturday: Pace run, starting at 3 miles in Week 1, up to 12 miles 10 days before race.
Sunday: Long run, 14 miles every week save for a few variations, including 22 miles four weeks out.