On cramming

It has been a long time since I have crammed for exams. I recall the long hours at night spent perspiring over poorly-written term papers and power-point presentations which had no business being put off. Every finals week found me doubled over my desk into the wee hours of the morning, hopped up on coffee and sugar-filled snacks, attempting to study all of the finer points of Hildegard von Bingen vs. Glenn Gould counterpoint, and other analyses useless to every musician on the face of the Earth. Those are by-gone days. Yes, now I have discovered a new form of procrastination; preparing for a road race. With the Baltimore Marathon looming on the ever-approaching horizon, I find myself with only 12 weeks to train in earnest before the pistol is fired.

At the beginning of this week, I scrambled about online in search of the shortest possible marathon training schedule to be found. I found it, and it's longer than 13 weeks. So, I will be attempting to cram the remainder of a 20-week schedule into the next 12 weeks. I like to think that I have a good head start on it by ramping up my base mileage over the last couple of months, but at this point, if I cross the finish line at Camden Yards, I'll be a happy camper, regardless of time.

So, here is what I have accomplished in the last couple of weeks (thanks to the accountability of a new running partner).

7/9 - 7 miles
7/11 - 3 mile ladder, average 7:30 pace
7/12 - 6 miles
7/13 - 4 mile tempo run
7/15 - 4 miles
7/17 - 6 miles
7/18 - 4 mile ladder, average 7:30 pace
7/19 - 6 miles w/ hills
7/20 - 3 mile trail run
tomorrow - 10 miles

Also, I have a couple races lined up to run in the next couple of months.

http://dvoa.org/info/maps/mapit.php?map_id=40&sked_id=834 (I'm addicted)
http://www.northshoreymca.org/pages/18862_around_cape_ann_25k.cfm (this should be a good litmus for marathon progress, I think.)
http://www.warriordash.com/register2012_connecticut.php (since I can't do the Spartan race this is a less-upper-body-taxing alternative with a friend.)