training April 12th-18th

4/12-Another Easter alone. Had a rather scary afternoon low after lunch (a burger cooked at home) but I got better in a few hours. Plan was to go as long as I could at an easy pace. Nice and steady improvement over yesterday but I still feel like I'm operating at about 90%. I decided that I would not attempt a 26.2. That will be next week and it will also be my last opportunity to do so before the taper. I ended up at 18 miles in 2:35:48 (almost a minute slower per mile than my best). I could have gone 20 but I quit early because of an approaching storm.
Stats: 1st half: 77:33, 2nd half: 78:15. That's only 5 seconds slower per mile, which is not bad.
Overall pace was a 8:39 and never slowed beyond 9. Performance was only fair overall but I did show some surprising life with a solid 1:36 final quarter mile. 3:47 marathon pace.
Grade:C+/2 credits/distance=18.25
4/13- 6.5 mile threshold run, not quite tempo pace but I'll take it after yesterday. Time was 48:58 with good splits of 24:34/24:24. Final 200 sprint was a strong 38 seconds. Pace per mile= 7:32. Felt like myself again. Can I hold this momentum through race day? If I do my long run on Saturday as planned, I may hit 60 miles in a week for the first time.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=6.75
4/14- 5 miles in 39:07 (7:50 pace) felt easy the whole way except for a solid but not blazing finish. I have now done 44 miles in 4 days and I don't feel too bad. I'll hit 60 for sure this week, maybe even 65.
Grade: B/1 credit/distance=5.0
4/15- The fast finish yesterday was a mistake and I paid for it today. I felt weak most of the day and had to really force myself to get this workout in. Ended up with a quarter marathon distance ASAP (as slowly as possible). Finished it in 55:00, which is still good for a 3:40 for a full mary. Pace per mile of 8:24 is slower than most runs of that distance but I meant for it to be slow so I'm fine with it. 51 miles on 5 straight days of running. I've earned 2 days off. Saturday's workout will be murder.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=6.75
4/16-planned rest day. Body feels very tired.
4/17- elective rest day. Body still feels a bit weak and tired but I could run today if I wanted. I'll finish the week with 63 miles and 77 in 8 days if I can finish tomorrow. A good time will be a huge confidence booster. A DNF will shatter my confidence.
4/18- Attempt #2 at 26.2 was successful even though I didn't feel that I had my best stuff. Most runners do not run that distance in training and I can see their point. 26.2 hurts a lot more than a 20 or even a 22 and the recovery time is longer. Still, I feel that I need to run the full distance to know what I am getting myself into and get a feel for the pain of that last 10K.
Here are the stats: 8:30-8:31-8:31-8:33-8:33-8:37.
1st quarter in 56:00. Feel decent but not the best and slowing just a tad. 3:44 pace.
8:31-8:30(back on target)-8:34-8:40-8:40-8:31-8:38
2nd quarter in 56:23, 1st half in 1:52:23. Still feeling reasonably well but a sub-3:45 doesn't look like it's going to happen.
8:40-8:43 (not good)-8:34 (better)-8:42-8:49 (starting to hurt)-8:44 (hanging on)-8:48
3rd quarter was 57:10, time at 3/4 mark was 2:49:33. Hit Mile 20 at 2:52:19. 3:45 won't happen now but I should be well below 3:50 and I feel better after 20 than I did the last time.
In the last 10K, at first I felt like I had picked up the pace but my watch told a different story. It was probably the least painful final 6.2 of the 3 times I have run this distance. I have described the feeling in my legs as raw hamburger meat before. This time, they merely felt like lead. I suppose that is an improvement. By mile 22, I knew my pace was slowing. Again, I didn't feel all that bad but no matter what I did, I could not keep from slowing down. After mile 23, I stopped to refuel ahead of schedule. I must have been dehydrated because I drank a lot and my next mile was a bit better. By this point, I didn't much care about my finish time. I just wanted to finish this thing. For a while, it looked like I would need a fast finish to break 3:50 but I was able to do it by a comfortable margin.
8:56-9:14(can't avoid the wall)-9:23 (ouch)-9:08(hydration)-9:11(sub-3:50 is mine)-9:19(I don't care anymore)-1:56 last lap (7:44 pace).
4th quarter was a somewhat respectable 59:53. Final 10K was 57:07.
1st half-1:52:23, 2nd half-1:57:03= 3:49:26- PR by 3 minutes on more tired legs than my New Year's time trial. I know I can beat this on race day but even a 3:40 will be tough.
Grade:A-/3 credits/distance=26.25
Weekly summary- My first 60 mile week and an unofficial marathon PR. I feel good about this. Unfortunately, my chromium deficiency has flared up again. It never was balanced and had been masked by fast oxidation in the past. If I get both in balance, I have no doubt that I can improve significantly. I'll try to hit 40+ next week if I can recover well then my taper will begin.
Distance=63.0 (PR) Weekly GPA: 29.1/9 credits= 3.233