18 weeks begins today

Well, I am 18 weeks out from the Pacific Northwest Marathon. Woo hoo! I actually feel really good. I have been on vacation and getting most of my runs in at sub-9 pace. I have been having great treadmill runs and also had a good outdoor run with Jeff in the mountains last week. My only drawback was I was sick on Saturday so I missed my long run. It's okay though, because I am raring to go! Maybe it was a good idea to cutback before training really starts! I still haven't completely chosen my training plan. Right now, I just know I want to run 6 days a week, add in some hill sprints, do a little bit of strength training and would love to do yoga. My plan is to run sub-9 miles as much as possible. I also want to do as many pace miles as possible. :-) So, what did I do for my first training day? Hal Higdon is what I am leaning toward. My fastest marathon was when I followed his Advanced 2 plan. Today was a 3xhill workout that I did on the treadmill. I did a total of 5 miles, with 3xhill at 5-6% incline at 7:30pace for .25 miles each time and then .25 miles recovery. I ended the workout at a 8 minute pace and I was dripping sweat and felt great!