Then and Now...

This morning I ran 18 miles. It's the longest run I've done in a while and I have to say I feel pretty good about it (overall). It wasn't my fastest run and it isn't the farthest I've ever run, but it's still a pretty big accomplishment for this training cycle (especially since nothing is hurting me right now and I have NO BLISTERS!!!!)

I started to wonder how the run today compared with the 18 mile run I did when I was training for the Chicago Marathon last year, so I looked at a few differences in where I am in my training now (based on the run today) versus where I was then (back in July of 2015)...

Right away you can see that I reached these training milestones nearly a month apart. This year has been a busier race year and that's probably why I'm just hitting 18 miles now. Also, the Chicago Marathon is a month before the NY marathon (Oct vs. Nov) so it also makes sense that the training schedule and mileage progression is a month later this year. 

Another thing you will notice is that both runs took place along the beach (Ft. Lauderdale beach for today's run and Hollywood beach for last year's 18 miler) and, in my quest to avoid running in the sun, started around the same time.

The Last 48...

In the last 48 hours I've spent a lot of time "working out" in a way that's scientifically equivalent to several hours in the gym...

Of course, some people argue that the study isn't true...

(haters)

I only found the first study to be personally useful so I followed the advice in the Bruce Lee quote on the Science for Life website (circled in blue).

Unfortunately I'm not training for a wine drinking marathon, although that should totally be a thing (that's probably not 100% healthy though.... probably). Since a "wine marathon" isn't currently on the schedule I decided to go to the gym today. Plus, I realized how lame my excuses for not training have become...