training (7/12-7/18) race week

7/12- 5 miles easy at Hoover. Good start but wilted in the heat and humidity in the later stages. Stopped for water twice. Seemed to get even more humid as the evening progressed. Finished with a moving time of 38:19 (7:40 pace) excluding the 2 water stops. That's a decent time for an easy day but I'm basing my performance on how I felt, which was average at best. Splits were 18:56/19:23 with a mild pick up at the end. Not spent but more tired that I should have been.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=5.0
7/13- Veteran's Park 4 in 31:44 (7:56 pace). This was meant to be an easy day and I didn't push it too hard. Temp was only 85 but the humidity was rough. A little bit of abnormal muscle soreness and wasn't feeling the best. I'm reducing the taurine before things get worse. I hope I don't develop an extreme sensitivity to it again.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=4.0
7/14- Went to bed last night feeling lethargic so I skipped a dose of taurine then I woke up the next morning feeling overstimulated. That's right, I went from one extreme to the other in just 9 hours. I can't take this anymore. Good news is that I got back on track by the afternoon.
6x400 in 74 (4:56 pace) then a final 600 in 1:44 (4:38 pace). I was on pace for a 2:19 800 and I think that's about where I am when fresh. Can I run a 2:15? If I can go sub-60 in the quarter, probably I can. As of now, the 800 and 2 Mile are the distances that I run the least often.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance= 4.0
7/15- Trak Shak "workout." Started off pretty well (4 mile mark under 31) then hit the wall and I actually walked most of the 2nd half. When I tried to run after a long walk break, I could barely run a 10:00 pace. My last half mile was a pitiful 5:13 (10:26 pace) and that pace required effort. Overall, my distance was 6.5 miles in about 55 minutes. Did not finish the workout so that's an automatic F. I get a plus for a decent 1st half. Need more taurine and I am disgusted!
Grade:F+/2 credits/distance=6.5
7/16- Just a short test after taking extra taurine. Trying to settle between 2,000-3,000 mg. Ran 6 laps in Hoover Rec. Center at tempo pace then stretched and ran 2 laps hard. Ran the first 6 in 5:50 then the final 2 in 1:28 for an overall time of 7:18. They say that the track is 200 meters but it's clearly longer. I estimate 240 meters, which means my pace was 6:28/4:53. Much improved over yesterday. What made the difference? You guessed it. Less than one fricken pill. This should not hurt my performance on Saturday and I feel better knowing that I am back on the right track.
Grade: B/1 credit/distance=1.5
7/17- Planned rest day. Weight is up to an even 150 for the first time all year and that's a good sign. I only need to gain 5 more to hit my target range.
7/18- Breakthrough. Twilight Retro 5K in 19:27 (#2 all time) (fastest time since '98)
Grade:A/4 credits/distance=4.0
Weekly summary:
Very low mileage this week due to the mini taper and screwy health issues. I want to make up for it with a 40+ next week. This week was very bad before the race but I've bounced back. How long can I stay in the groove? Who knows? As for my racing future, I think I will race in the Elvis 5K in Memphis next month then beat my soft 10K PR and build up for a fall half.
Distance= 25.0/ GPA= 31.3/11 credits= 2.85