Training 5/9-5/15

5/9- Summer like weather conditions. Tomorrow will be the first of many 90 degree days. Last week was a golden opportunity to nail that 5K PR but it slipped away. Good news and bad news about today's workout. The bad is that I am still not quite in the clear. The good is that my progress has been sure and steady since Friday's debacle. That makes me more comfortable that a roller coaster ride. Today's workout was a downward ladder.
2K- 7:43, 1600- 6:19, 1200- 4:39, 800- 3:00, 400- 89, 400- 72. Overall pace was 6:05/mi.
If I had run the time trial today, I think I would have fallen just a hair short of the sub-20. In the past, I was pleased with anything under 20. Considering how well I was doing 2 weeks ago, I want that barrier to be 19:30 instead and even if I can't break 19, I just want to make a dent in that nearly 2 year old PR.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=5.5

5/10- Easy 7 indoors in 53:46 (7:41 pace). Even pace. Nothing over 7:45, nothing under 7:36. I felt tired at times during the work day but I was pleased with the workout. On an easy day, the pace is not as important. The workout must feel almost effortless to get an A. This did not feel hard but I was working a bit.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=7.0

5/11- Trak Shak 8 in 58:37 (7:20 pace). Moderate effort and with the temp at 87 degrees that's a very respectable performance. According to runworks, that's equivalent to a 56:26 in 65 degree weather. Alone for 7 out of 8 miles then a Trak Shak guy caught up to me and pushed me to a 6:56 in Mile 8. Solid performance.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=8.0

5/12- Planned rest day.

5/13- 5K time trial in 19:46 (best time of the year). 7 ticks better than last time. Still not especially pleased with that time and did not have my best stuff as evidenced by the abnormal calf stiffness after the run. The 5K PR is my oldest and the drought has been most frustrating. This time I was out a little slower in the first half mile (3:04) but held the pace for longer than last time. Faded considerably after the 2K mark and had very little finishing kick.
Mile splits: 6:09-6:22-6:32-43. 5 out of the 7 seconds of improvement came in the 2nd half.
Kilometer splits: 3:50-3:51-4:00-4:06-4:01. 1st half 9:40, 2nd half 10:06.
Grade:B/3 credits/distance=4.5

5/14- Run #1- Trak Shak 3 in a pathetic 26:24 (8:48 pace). Splits were 8:13-8:34-9:37. I think the oral infection has messed up my body chemistry. I did nothing different with the pills.
Run #2- Vestavia 3 in 23:23 (7:48 pace). Much better but still slowed considerably and was dead after the 3rd Mile. I could not have gone any further. I popped some old antibiotics and that's probably what made the difference. Splits were 7:36-7:50-7:57.
Run #3- Vestavia 4 after another antibiotic. Time is down to 29:59 (7:30 pace). Still out of breath but definitely improving. Last mile was 7:17.
Grade:D/1 credit/distance=10.0

5/15- AM. Horrible performance. Lakeshore 5 in 41:50 (8:22 pace). 1st half 19:56, 2nd half 21:54. It has been confirmed that a chronically infected root canal can cause adrenal fatigue. The tooth comes out tomorrow.
PM- Not much better. Indoor run. Good start but hit the wall early in Mile 2. Stopped for water after hitting the marker in 14:55 then made a half assed effort to run again but there was nothing there. Quit after another half mile at glacial pace. It's 3 PM and I'm checking out for the day. Never thought I'd be looking forward to a tooth extraction.
Grade:F/1 credit/distance=7.5

Weekly summary:
Only real good news is that I got back over 40 miles on the week. Third straight week below 3.0 and there are a lot of unanswered questions. One thing that's certain is that I can't get better until the tooth comes out. How long has it been messing with my body chemistry? How long until I recover? Will there be any long-term impact on my treatment plan? I'm going to Idaho no matter what but whether or not I'll be able to run is another question.
Distance=42.5/ GPA= 22/9=2.44