Week -9 was less than ideal due to weather. On Monday, we got enough snow that every gym in town closed down, and it was not possible to run outside. So my run was out. After that, the freeze didn't let out until basically today (a whole week). On top of that, we got more snow on Wednesday, and temperature dipped into single digits occasionally.

But at least the gyms opened every day (sometimes with a bit shortened hours, but I made it work). An extra bit of complication is that in Kentucky, you must wear a mask on the treadmill, so any halfway serious run is impossible. I did try one easy 5-miler with a mask on, but it sucked so much, that for all other workouts, I went over the bridge to Indiana.

So I ended up with only 4 runs, instead of the planned 5. I added a mile to my Tuesday recovery (due to the skipped run on Monday), so I ended up 7 miles short of the original goal. I finished the week with only 36 miles. But at least that included a 11-mile medium long run and a 16-mile long run, of which the last 10 was at marathon pace.

Doing this on the treadmill is mentally taxing, but physically, it was entirely doable. I ran the fast portion at 7:00/mile, and this does feel like my correct marathon pace at the moment. The run was never painful, not even in the last few miles, but I *was* quite tired by the end. This is all expected, and the way it should be.

Now let's plan week -8:

Mon: 5 R

Tue: 10 w/ 5@LT (6:35?)

Wed: 11 MLR

Thu: R

Fri: 5 R

Sat: 17 L

 Total: 48 miles.

This look genuinely hard. MLR following a hard LT run, and a 17-miler at the end of the week. The total mileage is also going to be my highest since November (and that one had no workouts). Fortunately the cold snap is over and week -7 is supposed to be recovery.