And how are things going? I just started week 13 of my 18 week training plan. I had originally been doing something pretty similar to Higdon's Intermediate II plan, but ongoing knee issues forced me to scale back to Higdon Intermediate I. 2 weeks ago tried a pair of Superfeet insoles in a last ditch effort to make my knee HTFU and today I am kicking myself for not having tried them MONTHS ago, when the knee first started acting up. I had even tried different shoes...which helped the knee, but had me limping in pain with angry arches. Right now I'd say my knee is at least 75% good, if not more, and feels better every day. So the first 2/3 of training were rough and I nearly bailed on my race. Now I have no doubt that I will not only make it to the start line, but that I will probably have a pretty decent first race. I won't be a speed demon, by any stretch of the imagination, but I think there's a good chance that I will finish in under 4:30 and definitely under 5 hours...unless I blow up. AND the finish line of my race will have "Milwaukee Ale House" beer...I would have been happy with Miller Lite or even Milwaukee's BEAST, but now I am extra stoked...and I will get to meet RA peeps on the other side of Lake MI, too--bonus!

(this weekend I had a 'tweak' in the left inside knee - knock on wood it is short lived) Last race was a 30k, 9 days ago and ran a PR of 2:25 while being dog tired and no taper. So I am stoked for this fall's 3 marathon in 5 week extravaganza. First one as a 3:30 PR, 2nd as a 3:20 BQ attempt, and 3rd as a whatever I can muster up run for the hell of it event

Oooh...be c-a-r-e-f-u-l about that knee tweak thing. That is exactly how mine started. I think as much from not taking it easier in the 3 weeks between 25k race and start of marathon traing as it was due to needing more arch support in my shoes. Next year I will be LAZY between the 25k race and starting training...lesson learned. Can't wait to see what you do in your 3 marathons--that's an insane schedule, but also really cool and admirable.

Hey Kirsten - remind me when your marathon is? Mine is 5th Oct and I'm pretty sure your's must be about the same time.

That's hers as well - Hence the Avatar - Oct 5 Freak out! ---- I will see how the knee is tonight after taking yesterday off. Hopefully what I felt on the weekend was just a bit of aggravation and nothing serious. If it acts up at all I will take a few more days off and see how that goes. I don't think it is too bad at this point but we will see.

I'm 4 weeks behind you guys (USMC on the 28th). Training is much better than my last one which I essentially didn't train for but ran on a bit of a whim after only 30 miles the previous month (check out my log from last fall. Ridiculous). I'm still not entirely sure on my goal pace. Was shooting for a 3:45 but have struggled on some long runs recently and may back off to a 3:50 pace depending on the weather. Cooler temps really seem to help me. I switched shoes a few weeks ago after getting measured at a running store (switched from nuetral back to stability shoes). Seems to be helping some. After Sunday's 18, my knee was tweaking a bit as well but I'm pretty sure its nothing serious. Felt better after loosening up about a mile in yesterday. Long runs coming up are 19, 20, 12, and 20. After that I have one more 20 and then a taper. Zoomie, I have no doubt that you're going to do great on your upcoming race. I'm betting on a 4:20

That's what the calculators all say based upon my HM PR...but given my rough training these last months I'd be thrilled with a 4:30...or simply <5.>

My money is on 4:17. Proove me right Kirsten! Link to the Clarendon Marathon that I'm doing on 5th Oct: http://home.btconnect.com/r2d2/clarendon/homecentre.htm As you can see it's a trail point-to-point with a lot of hills and an overall gain in elevation. Not one for a PR. In 2006 I ran it in 4:20 having hurt my knee at 17 miles ish. This year I'm hoping for sub 4. Maybe even a 3:45.

My marathon (Harrisburg) is on Nov. 9, so I still have 11 weeks to go.... My 2nd (of 5) 20 miler is this weekend. I'm currently around 44-46 miles per week, and I probably won't get much beyond 50. I've cobbled together my own plan, using the long runs from the FIRST plan, plus 5 more days of running per week, mostly from Bart Yasso's plan.... but I'm thinking there's not enough speed work in that one, so I might be importing some faster speed workouts into it next week. I have been very very very lucky this summer.. very injury free. I attribute it to a really heavy spring of aerobic running -- gradual increases in miles, virtually no fast running and lots of trails. Endurance-wise, I'm kicking tail right now, but I need to put in some speed stuff, since that's definitely my weakness.

I will run the Twin Cities Marathon on October 5th, but I can't really say I've been training for it. I'd better put in a couple of long runs in the next couple of weeks. I'm not particularly concerned as I plan to run it with my brother at his pace, and he hasn't been able to train much. I've done slow marathons on little training before, so I'm not too worried about this. I've been generally unmotivated lately. After Twin Cities is over, I'll try to commit to doing well in one of the other challenges coming up.

T-6 weeks I think? It was going well. I also tweaked a knee on HTC this weekend. My last leg had seriously banked curves. I THINK it is nothing serious but it has me worried. This was supposed to be a hard week, but if the knee isnt better by the weekend, I'll make it an easy week and rearrange the schedule. If I make it to the start line uninjured I should break 4 hours easily and have a chance at a BQ (need good weather, etc.)