training 12/6-12/12

12/6- Easy 4 as a recovery run. Even pace with a time of 31:35 (7:54 pace). This might seem a little fast but I felt fine. I had a little foot pain but I didn't wear orthotics on race day. I'm not worried. No complaints about my run.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=4.0

12/7- Lakeshore MLR. I am amazed by my body's resilience. Sometimes, a hard workout will hit you hard 2 days later plus I did a lot of driving last weekend. No struggle at all. This was almost effortless. 10.5 @ 7:53. Every mile was 7:45-8:00. I can do 13.1 in about 1:43 in training and it feels easy. I should break 3:30 easily at Mercedes. I think I'll shoot for a 3:23. My only gripe was that my joints were just a tad sore otherwise this would be a solid A. I've got almost 10 weeks to go and I'm actually a little afraid of peaking too soon. I will have a slack week over Christmas and may race in January so it won't all be high mileage. I e-mailed the RD today and got a quick response. My AG plaque will be shipped before the end of the year. Yes!
Grade:A-/2 credits/ distance=10.5

12/8- High flying optimism was dealt a serious blow today. Planned to run an easy 6-8 but it ended up as a 4 mile recovery jog and I struggled to finish that. The reason is that I missed a dose of taurine. I could not remember whether or not I took it. I'm getting old, LOL. This was my worst day since mid-October. I was struggling at work as well. I am not on solid ground yet.
Grade:D/1 credit/distance=4.0

12/9- Punishment for yesterday's pathetic display of running. Trak Shak 5 at "hard tempo" pace, but not quite 100% effort. Time was 34:10 (6:50 pace). That's about 10 secs. per mile short of my PR. Splits were 6:56-6:48-6:54-7:01(dang)-6:30. Felt strong. I needed 3 taurine pills. WTH? If I produce in my workouts and races, I won't complain. I may try a cautious SBF reintroduction to target the thyroid. If days like yesterday come once or twice a month, I can deal with that so I'm not angry... yet.
Completed my punishment with a 3.5 mile cooldown at recovery jog pace. I was not completely spent. I hope the weather isn't too awful this weekend. A 20 miler indoors will SUCK!
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=8.5

12/10- Strong. Lakeshore 7 with temps in the 30s. Average pace was 7:46 including a moderate pick up in the last mile (7:12-BQ pace). I could hit 60 this week if I run tomorrow but I will likely rest instead. I did take 1 SBF and less taurine and was fine. I will hold off on sending in the medical test until the end of the month.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=7.0

12/11- Planned rest day. Went to the mall and did some Christmas shopping.

12/12- First 20 miler of this cycle. Time was 2:39:53 (7:59 pace). Even pace with quarter splits of 39:53-40:04-40:10-39:46 and Miles 1-19 were all 7:55-8:05. This is the first time that I have run 20 @ sub-8 pace. I felt a little sluggish early but was fine once I warmed up. Final .25 was 1:41 (6:44 pace) so I was not completely spent. Even if I hit the wall and slowed to 10:00 pace over the last 10K, I would have beaten my old full mary PR. I feel like I can do better than this but I've got to be pleased.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=20.0

Weekly summary:
Another good week. Next weekend will be my last chance in '09 for a new 5K PR. I may run Meadowbrook or Pell City. It will be a "game time decision" based on the weather conditions and how I feel that morning. I've got some slack time ahead over Christmas so I may be better off doing a long run. I can run in the 50s with relative ease. Can I average 60 next cycle for a BQ attempt? I think I can do it on 60 MPW.
Distance=54.0 GPA= 30.2/9=3.36