sub-3 or blow-up trying

Ran 2.25 miles to the track.  It was in the mid-80's out (what's up w/that?), so I decided to break up a mp run into 2 segments.  Ran 4 miles (6:56,7:00,6:56,6:54), drank from the spicket and then did another 3 miles (6:54,6:53,6:50), took another water break and then went 2.25 miles home.  Achilles still a bit sore even after a day off. 

Ran 7 miles real slow- did not feel great. 

Broke out a new pair of asics.  Ran 8 miles in them and felt no discomfort in the achilles.  May use them for Saturday's marathon.  This is not a marathon I'll be racing- just hope to use it as a training run.  20 moderately firm and from there decide whether to run/walk or hold pace to the end.  Ran total of 8.

So...I'm attempting my first marathon "training run" ever.  I think I've done 6-7 marathons and always with a taper in the "race mode".  Hartford (40 minutes away) Marathon falls on a Saturday and my wife's running the 1/2, so thought I'd use this as an experiment in preparation for my race marathon in November (Philly).  My new shoes came in earlier this week and they are tremendously easier on my achilles- I think my achilles issues this summer are a shoe issue.  It's been tough over the past year or two figuring out my shoe situation.  Every time a shoe begins to get comfortable, the model gets retired.  I haven't been happy with trainers for a while (since the Saucony Trigons disappeared) and now my race shoes have been discontinued (Saucony Tangents).  Ordered a couple pairs and the ones I think I'll go with for Saturday are a bit heavier (10 ounce) than I've used for marathon, but being a training run I want a little more support- Asic ds-trainers. 

Anyway, wanted to get a short mp run in before Saturday.  Went to the track and did a 1-mile warm-up and 3 mp miles- 6:50,6:47,6:21.  The last one was firm, but felt relatively controlled.  I'm not sure if the shoes are fully broken in for Saturday, yet they felt good.  Now, I'll take a couple days off and hope for the best.  My only goal for Saturday is to get a decent slow mp (7-7:30) for 20miles and anything faster or beyond 20-miles in that mode is bonus.  If I start to hurt (achilles), I'll be more than willing to walk/run the 2nd half, so as not to do any damage, but I think I'm turning a corner. 

Ran the Hartford Marathon as a training run for Philly in 5 weeks.  I was a bit nervous for 2 reasons- 1) I have not completed a 20-mile run since March  2) My achilles have been acting up all summer.

I decided to stick with the 3:15 pace group and hang with them as long as I felt healthy.  This would get me a good slow mp run in- my longest mp run this Fall has been 9 miles and even that has been broken up as tempo or interval training.  My achilles were sore for the first two miles and were never again an issue.  I stuck with the "3:15ers" through 16 miles (even catching back up w/them after a potty break) and was thrilled by having held a 7:20 pace for all that time.  The only negative was that I was running in a new pair of shoes and had developed a major blister by mile six (bigger than a silver dollar).  At about 16.5 miles I saw a puddle in a neighborhood driveway and decided to take of shoes/socks and soak for a bit.  Jumped back on the course and kept a nice easy pace until mile 22 (8:30-40ish).  At mile 22 I stopped again to address the blister + stretch and then decided to pick it up for a mile to see how the legs were- ran miles 23 and 24 at 7:40 pace.  Stopped again at the end of 24 to stretch and rub my "hot foot".  Cruised in with a time on my watch of 3:35:14- happy with the run!  The best part is, besides the blister, I did not beat myself up, so hope to put in a few extra 70 mile weeks and another 20-miler before Philly. 

My wife ran the half and finished barely over 2 hours- not bad for a mom of 6!  She loved the course and was happy with her time. Overall, a great day!