Training 1/17-1/23

1/17- AM- Mini breakthrough. 10K time trial indoors in 44:56. Best time of the year and just 26 seconds from the point of confidence in my treatment plan. Actually felt somewhat like myself today but I've still got a ways to go. 1st half was 22:15, 2nd half was 22:41. I got lazy in Mile 4 but outside of that, the pace was fairly even. I am now within 5 minutes of my goal and 3:42 (36/mi) from my PR. Got my first runner's high in almost a month.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=7.0
PM- Trak Shak 5 outdoors in 39:38 (7:56 pace). That's fine for an easy day especially my 2nd run of the day. Slowed just a tad in the 2nd half but still pretty good overall.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=5.0

1/18- Johnny's workout. (1200-800-400) x 2. 1st set was 4:34-2:59-85= 8:58 2nd set was 4:37-3:01-73*=8:51. Finished 11 seconds under 6:00 pace (5:57 overall). Satisfied with my performance. A very good day would have been 4:15-2:45-75 (5:30 pace) so I was within 30 seconds. I can't expect to turn this around overnight but progress is becoming evident. I am close to the point of confidence now.
* Final 400 was 73.56- best time of the year. Under 70 fresh? That 6:20 mile is very soft and it's going down on Friday.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=5.0

1/19- Trak Shak 5 in 39:22 (7:53 pace). That's fine for an easy day. No real complaints about this workout. Just a little soreness in the right knee but nothing to worry about. Pretty much the same effort and pace as Monday's afternoon workout. Pretty comfortable all the way.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=5.0

1/20- Vestavia Mile in 5:53.2. Best time of the year and 1st sub-6 after age 30. I ran my first sub-6 back in 1994 at the age of 13 and every year with the exception of 2006 (adrenal fatigue), I have clocked at least one mile below that barrier. I hope I can still do it at 40. Still, not a very good day overall. I had to take an hour nap after work and felt the ill-effects of my condition on the backstretch of the 1st lap. This was an unsatisfactory performance and would be a "D" under the normal scale but since I improved by 27 seconds over last time (38 to go, 33 to tie 2010's time), I feel okay about this one. Splits were good: 89-90-90-84. Another 10 lap cool down which was difficult. Mileage this week should be at least 45.
Grade:C/2 credits/distance=4.0

1/21- Planned rest day. Looking forward to the BTC party tonight. Good call on running the Mile yesterday. Today is windy and cold. Upper 30s with a wind chill around 25.

1/22- Slept in so I could run in more favorable conditions. It was still quite chilly. 30s at the start, 40 at the end but at least it was sunny with only light winds. 13.1 at Vestavia plus a cool down. My time is down to 1:42:12 (7:47 pace). Solid 4+ minute improvement but still over 9 minutes from my PR. Still, when the first trace of discomfort hit, I could not really push through it. I just had to settle into the pace. I was pleased with my splits:
7:34-7:45-7:47-7:44-7:54-7:58-7:57 (1st half was 51:09)
7:50-7:45-7:53-7:53-7:53-7:31-48 (2nd half was 51:03)
Race day is 3 weeks away and I've decided that I am a "go" and have a chance at a respectable showing. Chattanooga 2 weeks later should be a bit better.
Grade:C+/2 credits/distance=14.0

1/23- 7 miles at Brownell Lakeshore in 59:56 (8:34 pace). Poor performance and I am very disappointed in this one. I really didn't feel any ill-effects at all from yesterday. It was all about the pills. 6 ain't gonna cut it. I must go back up to 8. If I took more than 8, it probably would take me too far in the other direction. Again, I've got to do what I must. It's only been 3 weeks on this new formula. I was doing okay through Mile 4 (8:02 pace) then I hit the wall just like in a marathon and turned in pathetic miles of 8:42-9:39-9:27.
Grade:D/1 credit/distance=7.0

Weekly summary:
Perhaps my best week overall since the knee injury in October. I will cool it on the time trials after beating just one of my point of confidence times. I will take a shot at the sub-21 5K tomorrow. Once again, despite the downer today, I am better off than I was a week ago. I want to hit 50 at least once before the taper and if I have to slow it down, that's okay.
Distance=47.0/GPA= 26.4/11= 2.40 (highest in 5 weeks)