Training 2/7-13 (race week)

2/7- Weather turned dreary and blustery again so I stayed indoors. We may get snow again on Thursday but Sunday still looks pretty good. Easy 5 in 38-flat (7:36 pace). At lower mileage, the new easy will be 7:30 pace. This one was a piece of cake. As effortless as a stroll in the park.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=5.0

2/8- Johnny's workout. A light speed workout. 4x400 in 79, 1 800 in 2:48 for an overall pace of 5:26. Fairly comfortable and measured effort the entire way. That's about half the intervals that I'd do in a normal training session but my pace was about the same. Nothing to brag about today but the primary focus of this week is to stay sharp for Sunday. My 2011 times in the 400 and Mile (73.5/5:53) will come down nicely on my next try.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=3.0

2/9- Trak Shak 5 in 37:24 (7:29 pace). Felt strong. This pace is a bit on the fast side but I had a reason for it. There was snow approaching from the west and I wanted to get through this one quickly. Battled a strong headwind in Mile 3 and 4 but I did beat the snow and made it home just in time. I am confident that I can hold this pace or faster for 13.1
I had almost 3 miles of daylight so Spring is not far off. We should see the first signs of it in 3-4 weeks and I sure am ready. Last year, it seemed as if we went directly from winter to summer and for that matter, summer to winter. Here's hoping for a nice Spring and Fall this year and not too much extreme summer heat.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=5.0

2/10- Planned rest day. Took some chromium as a precaution and should not need any more before race day.

2/11- Stress free part of the taper has ended. I felt the chromium deficiency symptoms today. My calves were as stiff as a board. I overloaded today with the expectation that it will clear by race time. Workout was a junk run with Chilton. 4 miles in 36:30 (9:08 pace). I really didn't care at all about the pace and did pretty much what I planned. I did do a mild pick up in the final quarter mile and got below 8:00 pace but I was working a bit to get there.
If only I can reduce the ADHS, I won't need chromium at all.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=4.0

2/12- Junk run at Vestavia to make sure legs still work. Planned to run 600 at half mary pace then stride a 200. 1st 3 200s were 48-53-55 then finished with a 44. 2 lap cool down at a glacial pace. No reason to panic but I still don't feel my best. Of course, 2 years ago, I was awful in my last workout before race day then produced a 6 minute PR. I'll be going out conservative and then I'll go from there.
Grade: Pass/0 credit/distance=1.0

2/13- Mercedes half marathon in 1:34:02 (7:11 pace). Fastest time since '09.
Grade:A-/4 credits/distance=14.0

Weekly summary:
Very good week overall despite the chromium hiccup. I've scheduled a consultation with my doctor to see if he has any other ideas. I am very close to PR shape and part of me wants to stay with this mode of training but the 59.9 is approaching now or never territory. I hope there will be an attempt at 1:30 this Fall and I've already got a pretty short list of options.
Distance=32.0/ GPA= 3.44 (5th straight improvement, highest since Sept)