[Christopher] The end of the 6th week of training went fairly well. I have learned that I need to be giving my legs a little more rest in between the long runs. Running three days a week, with some long runs scheduled, led my shins to ache a little more than I like. The calf sleeves that Tom gave me seem to be helping with the aching, but it certainly does not prevent them. Monday and Wednesday were my scheduled runs, but I decided to take off and do elliptical instead.  I stayed on the elliptical as long as I would have been running, and I kicked up the level as high as it would go to keep up the cardio and keep the heart rate up. Come time to run  the 8 miles on Saturday, I was happy that I was able to run it effortlessly. I was able to put in 8 miles in 1 hour and 17 minutes. I was happy with that and there was no aching or pain. Starting this week, I am taking off Monday from running and keeping up the cardio with the elliptical as usual, but will go ahead and run the 6 mile tempo on Wednesday and a 10 miler on Saturday.  I’m think I’m starting to get the hang of this training and I’m getting a better feel for my body and how it responds. I’m glad I did this mock training before the actual training of the half marathon. Now I know what I need to do, and I’m excited.

[Mandy] I feel like I’m finally starting to get the hang of switching gears and NOT running as much as I have been!  With Christopher’s help of reigning me in, I’ve been able to ease up a little on my mileage and to talk myself into believing that “it really is OK NOT to run a million miles a day.”  It took a little while to get comfortable with the idea that I can still get in a good workout without runs as long as I’ve been doing; I just needed to focus on giving those other cross-training and lifting days everything I had.  I’ve been sufficiently wearing myself out, and running shorter distances than I’m used to is really about all I can handle!  8 mile runs have turned into 4-5 mile runs, and I don’t think I’ve run anything longer than 10 miles in months.  It’s good for me, right?  Christopher has really helped push me in all areas, and it’s been a great feeling to be exhausted and tapped out at the end of the day.  Saturday’s long run of 8 miles actually turned into a 9.3 mile run.  I was feeling great (thanks to awesome workouts during the week and working out Friday earlier in the day) and decided to take advantage of it.  I did 9 miles in 1 hour and 18 minutes, which I’m pretty happy with.  These distances seem to agree with me and leave me with enough energy to try out some other exercises and workouts that I was missing out on during marathon training.  I’m feeling stronger than I have in a long time, and I love that feeling!