I had originally planned to run three marathons in 2008: B&A Trail, Frederick, and Baltimore. I had run two in 2007: B&A Trail and Marine Corp and those were my first ever. So I thought I could add one more in '08. But I feel really good and Baltimore went really well for me. So I decided to try and add one more -- a mere six weeks after Baltimore -- the Inaugural Rehoboth Beach Marathon.

I first saw the notice for this while on vacation back in July. My family has been heading to the Delaware beaches every year for many year. So I knew a little about it.  Then, after Baltimore, my RB and I both felt like we wanted to do one more and heading to the beach in November just sounded like a nice end-of-year mini-vacation. So we signed up.

According to the race sponsor (http://www.runningrehoboth.com/), they are expecting around 400 runners.  It's both a full marathon and a two-person relay. So it will be a very small race - no crowd support to speak of. But that's okay with me -- I like that just as much as the big deal races. And it has a significant advantage to me (after Baltimore) -- it's FLAT! Here's what the course looks like: http://www.runningrehoboth.com/course-map.htm

So, after a week of recovery, we're back pounding the pavement in training again. Lighter, for sure than leading up to Baltimore, but significant nonetheless.  Here's the plan:

Week of 10/20: 6x800 intervals, 18 mile LSD, 8 mile tempo.

Week of 10/27: 8x800 intervals, 20 mile LSD, 8-10 mile tempo.

Week of 11/3: 8x800 intervals, 16 mile LSD, 10-mile tempo.

Week of 11/10: 6x800 intervals, 12 mile LSD, 6 mile tempo.

Week of  11/17: 4 mile easy, 2 mile easy, marathon on 11/22.

The last 3 weeks are "Taper" and I believe it to be a critical part of success in the full, giving my worn out body a chance to heal and recover glycogen stores. We're already into the week of 10/20 and I managed to get the intervals in and we did a 19 mile LSD last evening - great run. So we're off...