Where to Next?

11 miles: 6.5 miles at General Aerobic and 4.5 miles at 5 X 1200M at 5K pace.  RI in between the 1200's.

Worst run of the season. I was to run 18.  Legs were stiff, feet hurt, HR was too high.  Ended up cutting the run.  No reason to  push myself if the run was not there.

Double session run:

6 Mile AM Recovery run.  Ran this in Jacksonville, FL.

4 Mile PM Recovery run.  Ran this one in Alpharetta, GA.

2 runs in two different states.

Recovery run of 6 miles.  Ran at 5:30AM with Hokan.  Averaged 8:06's.  Light, easy, conversational run. 

Nice to run with someone for a change.

Chattahoochee Runner's Club 10K.  Rainy and cold, but after you got moving the rain felt good.  Warmed up about a mile or so.  Added some strides to loosen up the legs.  The goal was not to hit it hard, but to run a sub 40.  Ended up with a 39:34 and 1st in my AG. 

Went out with guys last night down into ATL.  Sweetwater Brewery was putting on a festival.  We ate at the Vortex then headed doing to drink some beer. 

I got up late and ran 15 around 11AM.  Felt okay, a little out of it at certain points.  Pace and HR were fine...

Recovery day.  Legs were stiff from the 10K, set building for my daughter's play, going out Saturday night, then running 15.

Spun the legs out on the stationary bike then did light (very light) strength training. 

Big week of 70+ miles which ends with a 21 miler on Sunday.

Treadmill run this morning.  General Aerobic run with small pick-ups.

Long Run.  Poured down rain the hole run.  Was soaked to the bone, but got it done.  Maintained pace and hear rate even carrying an extra 10 pounds of soaking wet clothes.

Ran 3 miles prior to swim.  Still keeping up the swim once a week for an hour to maintain some upper body strength.  Swam 2800M's.  Bought a pair of Nimbus at lunch.  Was heading down the path on the Newton's but they are back ordered.  The Ghost are wearing thin and needed a new pair.  Ran 4 after lunch at a light pace. 

VO2 run this morning.  5 at a mellow pace of 8:16's then had to push it for the last 7 at HMP.  It was not easy but is it done.  The Nimbus 12's are a little clunky but the midfoot cushioning makes up for it.  The test will be on tomorrow's long run.

21 mile run.  Started off at 20% slower pace than MP.  Increased to 10% slower at half way point and finished the last 3 miles at 7:00/mile pace.  Mixed up the run with roads, packed gravel and trails. 

Rest day. Worked on my dauhgter's room: painting, putting in recess lighting and fishing wires for a bed light.

Recovery run.  Ran 6 miles with Ann Marie this morning.  Temps were nice along with the company.  Nice to run with someone once in a while...

Could bare to do another run in the pouring rain.  I opted to swim instead and focus on VO2 max.  Swam 3,500M with Josephina and Melissa. 

Tested out the Kinvara's this morning.  Using them in the Publix Half Marathon this weekend.  Ran 6 miles out an back on Webb Bridge then hit the track for 5 X 600's at 95% Max HR.  Shoes felt good.  Will run a few recovery runs later in the week prior to the Half on Sunday.

15 mile run at MP + 10%.  Felt good. Air was cold at 4:30AM, but finished it up.

7 Mile recovery run with 6 X 100M strides. 

Recovery run on the treadmill.  The weather was awesome outside, but needed to stick to the plan and run this flat and easy on the mill.

Ran the Publix Half this morning.  10,909 runners ran the Half Marathon.  Hooked up with the 1:30 pace group.  I had been training Evan for 11 weeks to get him ready for his first Half.  The last thing he told me as the gun went off was that he was going to stick with the pace group.  Within a quarter mile he was no where to be seen (in front of the pace group).  Evan took off way too fast.  The course was technical and hilly.  Hung with the pace group, felt good and confident.  I figured by mile 10 I would start to surge ahead from the group to make it under 1:30.  By mile 11 I saw Evan.  He was struggling.  I went by him and told him to latch on and we can finish this together.   He moaned and tried to hold but fell off within a quarter mile.  I told him that the 1:30 pace group is about a minute or so behind, gather yourself and latch on to the group.  When I finished Evan came in about 1 minute later and broke the 1:30 time he was shooting for.  Good race, good pace group and Publix did this race up right.  A lot better than ING ever did.

Woke up this morning and almost bagged this run.  18 miles after a Half Marathon race.  Crazy!  But, the legs were not sore so I figured I would give it a try.  As I was running I kept thinking, "why a long run after a race?"  It is in the plan and I am sticking to the plan.  Then at mile 14 I knew why.  I was fatigued and my head was not into it.  With 4 miles to go, I had to buckle down and grind out those last few miles.  Mental toughness.  That was the reason.  What got me throught those last 4 miles was thinking about a rest day tomorrow.  Every step I was closer to the rest day.  That was my reward. Averaged 8:05's for the 18+.  Hilly course and the quads are fried with 31 miles of verticle climbing in the last 2 days.

 Training plan ran me ragged with the Half Marathon race on Sunday and then 18 miles on Monday.  Decided to take it easy.  Swam with the Masters Group this morning.  Only swam an hour then got out.  Hit the gym at lunch for a lot of stretching and core workout. The day off from running was good for the body

Back at it again this morning.  Less than 30 days until Boston.  Ran 7 miles at a Zone 2-3 pace (Z-3 due to the hills).  On the way back the plan was to run 6 X 1,000M's at 5K pace.  Legs felt a little weak so I back off on the pace but was still at VO2 Max.  Finished all 6 and headed back up the Webb Bridge Hill to the gym.  Stretched and core.  Need to fit more core in.  3-4 times a week are needed.  On the half on Sunday I felt myself pulling to one side up hills.  Couldn't keep a straight line to conserve energy. 

Went to bed thinking I only had a nice 6 mile recovery run on Thursday morning.  Waking up a bit earlier than the alarm, I checked the plan and I was scheduled for 15.  Had to switch gears and get ready for an additional 9 miles.  The run was good up until the last mile.  Bonked a little making my way up the long climb to the end of 15.  Thinking that I only had 6 miles I ate a lighter dinner than I would have if I was running 15.  Paid for it.  Averaged out the 15 at 7:56/mile.

Tempo run.  It was a bit cool out this morning, but after a while it felt good.

6 miles on the tread mill.  Averaged 8:19's with my HR at 124.  Took it easy in prep for tomorrow's long run.

Held the run until 8:30AM.  It had poured rain all night and even at 7:30AM the rain, lightning and thunder was pretty bad.  I ended up running the 20 alone.  Two of my friends were supposed to run with called me and told me that they ran the 20 miles on Saturday.  I was upset that they blew me off and didn't have the guts to tell me that they changed plans on Friday.  These kinds of situations you really find out who your true friends are...Finished the solo 20 miles at an average pace of 7:42's.  3 seconds per mile too fast, but the HR was in the zone.

Rest day.  Did very light strength training at lunch. 

6 Mile run with 3 miles of track workouts.  I am hitting my peak point.  Need to continue to focus on the task at hand and not get derailed heading into taper at the end of this week.

Woke at 4:30AM to loud thunder, lightning and a downpour.  Had 12 miles to run this morning.  I could have handled the rain but the lightning was lighting up the sky and seemed too close for comfort.  Headed to the gym and knocked out the miles on the treadmill.  I broke it up and ran 6 in one area of the gym and 6 in another.  Made the time go by faster.

Ran the 10K from the gym.  Cool and drizzling.  It was nice.