Training 3/21-3/27

3/21- First long interval workout of the year was a success. 3x1600 in 5:58 (5:59-5:58-5:57) then walked a lap to recover fully. 400 for dessert in 69.6, which missed my best of the year but I was satisfied with the sub-70. My goal for the workout was a 6:00 average and a 70 last 400. I barely made the goal but I get a plus for running each interval on time. ZERO pills today and the excess may not have cleared my system so I may feel better tomorrow. This is my last hard workout before race day. In my current condition, I predict that I will fall short of the 19:13 but barely make the 19:27.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=5.0

3/22- Had to go to the dentist today because of a mild toothache. Fortunately, it was just a cavity, not a root canal. The workout came at 4 PM with temps pushing 80 degrees. There was a headwind in the first half and a tailwind on the back half. The workout was a moderate 6 miler on Lakeshore with a fast finish. 1st 5 miles in 37:02 then closed with a 6:37. It was slightly uphill and just 3 ticks shy of my 10K race pace so that's pretty impressive. Overall time was 43:39 (7:17 pace). Tomorrow's workout will be similar then it'll be rest and junk until Saturday.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=6.0

3/23- Trak Shak 5 at moderate effort for the first 4 then a fast finish. Splits were 7:06-7:12-7:20-7:10-5:46 for an overall time of 34:34 (6:55 avg). Felt unusually strong and yes, this was a very good workout but not THAT good. I had to take a 5 minute break around 3.75 miles in a Mexican restaurant because of an "extreme emergency." I'll spare my readers the details but you can guess what it was. Because of this, I was fresher than normal entering Mile 5. Still, I think I could have pulled out a sub-6 or at least goal 5K pace of 6:10. I'm going for the all time PR on Saturday. I want to go out no faster than 90 in the first .25, be at 6:10 for the first Mile then try for a negative split. Today's grade unfortunately gets a minus because of the you know what.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=5.0

3/24- Planned rest day. Not tired out at all after yesterday's run.
Update: The medical report has been sent and the results are not as good as I had hoped for. If I keep off the pills, a relapse is just around the corner and my body is feeling too loose this afternoon. Screams of frustration!
Felt worse and worse as the day progressed. I must go back to ADHS and down the road, I'll need chromium again. I can't try anything new until after race day. I do know that chromium won't work now. I'll just have to load on ADHS until the gun goes off and hope to hit it on the nose again. I decided that I needed a test so I popped 2 ADHS and hit the track at Mountain Brook for a 400, where I clocked a 67.92 (best time of the year). That's not good. Even on slightly tired legs, I should have managed at least a 64. This may never end.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=1.0

3/25- Rest day. Not feeling well at all and there's a chance of rain at race time. I may just bag it.

3/26- Went ahead and did the Rumpshaker 5K in 20:01 plus warm and cool
Grade:B-/4 credits/distance=5.0

P.M- Eager to see how I felt after taking some magnesium and copper. Of course, I was not fresh enough to put out race effort but a sub-7 pace felt good early. Ended up with a quick 6:25 first mile then rested and ran an easy 6 laps around 7:45 pace then closed with a 33.8 final 200 with no rest. It looks like I've regressed to early February form and the climb back will be slow. I can be patient with slow progress but it must be steady with no massive shifts.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=3.0

3/27- Trak Shak 10 at moderate effort with a time of 75:07 (7:31 pace) with a solid 6:43 last mile. Not a bad showing out there today but it still feels like the power source has been switched off. It may be a while before I show the form I did early this week.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=10.0

Weekly summary:
Up and down week. Very high quality and a pretty solid distance for a race week. Of course, the medical report is a huge disappointment and it may be a few weeks until I recover from this setback. Let's hope that the progress will be steady with no major adjustments just like January. It was close but just like the race, I fell short on the GPA. The streak of 8 straight weeks over 3.0 has ended here.
Distance=35.0/GPA= 35.8/12=2.98