training 10/25/31

10/25- Hoover 7 in 54:51 (7:50 pace). Significant improvement over yesterday but still well off form. Started out with a solid 7:40-7:45 pace despite elevated pulse and heart rate (no chromium today) then faded in the 2nd half. By the end of the run, I had faded to an 8:15 pace but closed with a respectable 1:47 final lap. Double the distance at a faster pace
Grade:C/1 credit/distance= 7.0

10/26- Short tempo under a time crunch. Lakeshore 3.1 with a moving time of 19:37 (6:19 pace). No, that's not a typo! Splits were 6:16-6:12-6:31-38. Just :24 short of a PR but this would have carried an asterisk. I did have to stop several times at intersections for traffic but I think I would have gone sub-20 without stopping. This was a hard but not all out run. I held back just a hair. Felt strong with only a trace of stiffness most of the day. 2 words: 'BOUT TIME!
Grade:A/2 credits/distance=3.5

10/27-A little bit of joint inflammation and a little of the "wired/tired" feeling but considering that I nearly put forth race effort yesterday, I don't feel too bad. No more SBF and maybe a cautious taurine re-introduction. I'll see how I feel tomorrow morning. Skipped Johnny's speed because I went too hard yesterday. 3rd day off the chromium. Instead, I opted for Lakeshore again. Result: 7 miles @ 7:42. Too fast but I never felt uncomfortable. Groin was sore but the rest of me is pleasantly tired. Slightly off form but still good overall. HARD tomorrow.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=7.0

10/28-Last Trak Shak run in daylight. None of my training partners showed but that's okay. I doubt that any of them would have wanted to run with me today. 5 Mile route in a moving time of 33:14 (6:39 pace). Splits were 6:31-6:31-6:51-6:46-6:33. That's a 22 second improvement over my previous PR. I did have to stop a few times for traffic but there will be no asterisk today. I'll just add a 10 second penalty and let it go in the books as a 33:24 (PR). As I've said in my post, I'm not terribly surprised. I've said time after time that I have the talent to run some pretty fast times when healthy. As of now, I'm still skipping the 5K this weekend. I'll be better served by running long. I hope to take another shot at the 5K PR later on. The Vulcan 10K is likely to be a go. If I can maintain the pace that I ran today for an additional 1.2, I would clock a time of 41:30 (a PR by a full minute). I think that's doable running with competition and with fresh legs even if the course is a little harder.
Grade:A+/2 credits/distance=5.0

10/29-After going 95-100% 2 out of the last 3 days, I expected to struggle today but I DID NOT! I had a bit or groin soreness and minor stomach cramps but other than that, I had plenty of energy. Workout was Lakeshore 7.5 starting and ending at Brookwood. I started out a calm 7:40 pace then my Garmin got low on batteries. I clicked it back on at the end to find that I was still below 8:00. I'll estimate somewhere in the 7:50s overall.
Grade: B+/1 credit/distance=7.5

10/30-Veteran's Park 4, probably the last day of the year that I will be able to run shirtless. Time was 31:44 (7:56 pace). A little tired but I have every right to be. Good news is that the groin soreness has diminished. This was intended to be a recovery day and I still turned in a sub-8 with a pretty even pace. I could have done 7:30 with relative ease but this was supposed to be slow.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=4.5

10/31-Long as planned in damp conditions. Plan was to go 13 at 8:00 pace then 2-3 at half marathon pace. Hit 13 on target- 1:43:34 despite faltering a bit towards the end. After that however, I didn't have much left. Only ran 2 in 15:26 (7:43) and most of that came on the first and last quarter. Finished with 15 in an even 1:59 (7:56 pace). My best LR is 18 @ 7:50. This was a step behind but still quite solid with no rest days during the week. Warm down at snail's pace to hit weekly mileage target.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=15.5

Weekly summary:
Ran all 7 days. Nothing less than a C. Every run averaged less than 8:00 pace. They call me Crazy Justin for a reason. I need to slow down if I want to maintain this mileage. Next week is race week so I'll try to get decent mileage but it will be less intense. Again, there is a line between craziness and stupidity. Oh yeah, it's about freakin' time that I am running well!
Distance=50.0/ GPA= 35.1/10= 3.51 (highest since May)