Fitness and Training

It's only a month until the Twin Cities marathon. I completed my 4th 20 mile run last Sunday. Training has been going really really well. You can see from my 8 mile run this morning (details below) that my pace is improving. Most importantly my heart rate is remaining lower. It used to jump up to about 175 or so when I was pushing this hard but now I can barely break 160. I think the chances of me blowing away my PR next month are very good. I have the Dick Beardsley half marathon on September 11 and I'm looking forward to a fast time.

Intervals (GPS Interval)
Type	Distance	Time	Total Time	Pace	Avg HR	Max HR
Interval				8:54	133	145
Interval	1 Mi	7:54.21	16:47.34	7:55	146	153
Interval	1 Mi	7:57.28	24:44.62	7:58	147	156
Interval	1 Mi	7:55.03	32:39.65	7:56	144	157
Interval	1 Mi	7:54.82	40:34.47	7:55	153	160
Interval	1 Mi	7:55.45	48:29.92	7:56	155	158
Interval	1 Mi	7:36.06	56:05.98	7:37	155	161
Interval	1 Mi	8:03.14	1:04:09.12	8:04	153	158
Interval	0.02 Mi	0:09.59	1:04:18.71	8:00	157	158

On the fitness front I have been working out a lot and really building my core. I feel a lot stronger and tighter though my weight loss has slowed significantly in the last month. I'm now down to about 215 pounds and I don't know if I'll hit 200 before the marathon. But that's ok. My body is still shrinking and I'm building muscle.