This week steps things up again after a relatively easy week six. Despite the race on Sunday, there’s no real rest until Friday. According to the training plan, Monday is focused on strength and conditioning. With the addition of swimming to Thursday’s list of activities, I have backed off the bicycle a little and will swap some of that time for pool time to allow me practice time. Tuesday is another speed session, with 8 quarter mile sprints interspersed between 9 quarter mile jogs. Wednesday’s easy run also increases from 4.5 miles to 5 miles.

Saturday and Sunday are reserved for a short 4 mile run and a longer 9 mile run – notable in that it will be the longest distance I will have ever run. Although the schedule calls for them in that order, I am flipping to two days to free up some personal time. I can’t see there being any harm in juggling runs like that; although the forecast is predicting snow for the weekend, so who knows how things will pan out.