training 8/30-9/5

8/30- Strong MLR. Lakeshore 12 in 93:49 (7:49 pace). Pretty even pace. 1st half in 46:41 (skewed by 7:30 start), 2nd half in 47:08. That's less than 5 sec/mile difference. Fought stomach cramps in the last mile and managed a 7:22. 1 mile cool down brings my 7 day total to 65, which is a new personal record for mileage.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=13.0

8/31-Elective rest day. Good call. I felt fine in the morning but come evening, I was zonked. Should be fine for tomorrow's double.

9/1- AM- Progression run with group. 5 miles @ 7:35 pace then the final 2.5@ 6:35 on a slight net uphill. Maybe not as strong as last week's progression but I wanted to save a little something for the evening. 1/2 mile cool.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=8.0
PM- Trak Shak 5 with a moving time of an incredible 32:59 (6:36 pace). 2nd best time ever on this course. I would not have broken 33 if not for a few stops but it was 85 degrees and sunny and I ran pretty hard in the morning. It'll go in the books as a strong tempo. Splits: 6:37-6:30-6:42-6:44-6:25. Unbelievable! I know I'll pay for this one tomorrow. A bit of soreness in my arch. Must wear my orthotics in my next few runs.
Grade:A/2 credits/distance=6.0

9/2- Not as bad as I feared. Yes, my body is tired but I've felt worse. The only downer was that there was still a little discomfort in my feet. I think that the new training shoes simply won't work for me and I'll go back to Asics. I have a nasty blister on the back of my heel, which has altered my stride a bit and that could lead to injury.
Easy 6 in 46:24 (7:44 pace). Amazingly, I took off at 7:30 pace but wisely dialed it back and kept it pretty even from mile 2 onward.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=6.0

9/3- Super easy social run with Ryan and Chilton. I did a 1.5 mile warm @8:36 and that was the fastest part of the workout. Finished around 9:15-9:20 pace so that barely counts as a workout but it was by design to be fresh for my LR tomorrow. Foot was okay.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=7.0

9/4- Good long run. Overall time was 2:19:37 for 18 miles (7:45 pace). Very even splits as well.
1st 5 in 39:18, 2nd 5 in 39:06, 3rd 5 in 39:13. At that point, I was just a hair over 7:50 pace overall and made an attempt to run the last 3 at BQ pace. Result was 7:23-7:42(slight IT discomfort)-6:54 with the final .25 at sub-6 pace. This is my best time ever for this distance but I've still got a lot of work to do to get into BQ shape.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=18.0

9/5- AM-Easy 7 at Mountain Brook but it sure didn't feel easy. Overall pace was an acceptable 7:55 but I stopped several times to stretch. I was hurt by the sun, no water and an empty stomach. 1 mile cool at glacial pace to finish up. Refueled with brunch at Golden Corral and took a nap. 4 miles shy of 70 on the week. Do I try a recovery jog this evening?
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=8.0
PM- Easy 4 at Veteran's Park at an even 8 pace. I am really feeling the effects of over training now. Good thing next week is a cut back.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=4.0
Weekly summary:
When I started this blog, I said that I would never run 70 miles in a week. Now that the adrenal fatigue is no longer a factor, that's out the window. Still, this type of training is unsustainable over the long haul. My easy runs have slowed from 7:45 to 8:00 pace and the strain of over training is starting to show. I'm not in BQ shape yet and with 3 months to go, it still looks to be a long shot.
Race schedule for the Fall will be:
9/25- local 5K
10/9- half mary in Jackson, Miss'sippy
11/6- 10K in Mobile
11/20- 5K fun run in Monty, more to see old friends than race.
12/11 Rocket City Marathon
Distance= 70.0 (PR)/ GPA= 41.3/12= 3.44 (heavy load)