Training 7/11-7/17

7/11- It seems like how I feel lately has been determined by how many pills I took the previous day rather than today. I'm not sure what to make of that either. I picked up some more choline/inositol which caused abnormal muscle pain a few months ago but back then I took a mega dose of it. Small-moderate amounts of ADHS and choline/inositol is my last hope. I went with 7 ADHS yesterday and the results were not good. I will try to cut it to 5 today.
AM- 3 miles with a time of 22:50 (7:37 pace) running all out. Yes, that's right. It took every ounce of energy to run my normal easy pace for half the distance I normally run on a easy day.
Grade:C-/1 credit/distance=3.0
PM- 5 miles indoors is 34:24 (6:53 pace). As expected, my evening run was a lot better because I haven't taken as much ADHS. That said, if I don't take any tonight, I will feel lousy tomorrow. Coming out of my slump? Maybe. Still over 2:00 from a PR.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=5.0

7/12- Once again, I felt awful when I woke up then got worse after taking 2 ADHS. Then, as the day progressed, I felt better and better. Soon, I may be able to quit that stuff and hope the choline/inositol will do the job. Got new racing shoes at the Shak (Saucony Kinvara) then tried them on an easy 6. I took off at 7:30 pace and never slowed down. Time was 45:08 (7:31 pace). Slowed just a tad in Mile 4 and 5 but ran a relaxed 1:40 last quarter mile. Still a bit stiff. Update: I dropped my dosage from 5 to 3 yesterday and the third one produced a negative reaction. I'd like to quit ADHS now and just rely on the choline/inositol. We'll see what happens but I may need 1-2. It seems that my raw 200 and 400 speed has declined a bit in the last year. I don't think my age is the problem but the thyroid hormone imbalance could be. More natural speed can only help me in longer distances.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance-6.0

7/13- I only took 1 ADHS last night before bed and woke up feeling fine. Indoor 5 miler in a remarkable time of 31:57 (6:23 pace). Unfortuantely, it cannot count as a PR even unofficially since I had to pit stop after 5K because of absolutely nasty GI issues. I probably was getting toxins out of my system so I'm not worried at all. Splits were 6:18-6:26-6:36-6:26-6:11.
Perhaps the slow 3rd mile came as a result of the GI distress but my last mile was certainly aided by the 5 minute rest. This project to a time of 40:16 for 10K and a sub-1:30 half.
Going for a sub-40 10K in the Fall and I'm 80% of the way there and I know I can duplicate this legally. Took 1 ADHS before bed and tightened up. I'm through with that stuff until further notice.
Grade:A/2 credits/distance=6.0

7/14- Planned rest day. Shins and calves are a bit sore. Tomorrow will be my first full day off the ADHS and I'll try to get up for a morning run. Picked up some Brooks Ghost shoes from the Shak on my lunch break.

7/15- First full day off the ADHS and my body clearly felt different in the workout. I got up at 6 AM to run so I'll have a few hours extra rest for a potentially fast group run tomorrow. I still have a bit a shin split issues. Today was my first run in the Brooks Ghost shoes and I was generally pleased. I like the Saucony Kinvara better but my PF could flare up if I run in those every day. Oh yeah, the workout was 6 miles at an easy effort but moderate pace. My time was 44:46 (7:28 pace) with 5 out of 6 miles at 7:30 or under. I actually tried to slow down but could not. I am red hot now but wary of injury potential. Cut back next week and a race on Saturday evening if the weather cooperates.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=6.0

7/16- Group run. 11 miles on a route that was a bit less hilly than usual. Also, it was overcast and not as hot as before. That made for a fast pace. I got dropped by the lead group (sub-3 marathoners) but hung with the 2nd group and could have pulled away at the end. Finished with a 7:24 average pace with pretty even splits and added a cool down. Shin was no worse than before but it hasn't gone away. I think the cause was abnormally tight calf muscles, which is related to the pills. Pretty strong performance overall. Just like with the ADHS, I'll feel ill-effects if I go 12 hours without choline/inositol. I don't think I took quite enough for optimal results today but I'm still pleased. I've got another week to tweak it.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=12.0

7/17- Red hot again. Breezed through an easy 7 in 51:21 (7:20 pace). Felt no harder than upper 7:30s-low 7:40s. Faster paces at the same effort is a very good sign and bodes well for Fall marathon training. Even at 55 MPW, 7:45-8:00 should be a cinch.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=7.0

Weekly summary:
What can I say? 2 sub-7 tempos including 1 sub-6:30 and the new easy is 7:30 pace. I don't think I've ever been this hot this long. The only downer is that I've been needing more choline/inositol but that could be only temporary. Saturday's Retro 5K will be a game time decision based largely on the weather. I'm doing a cut back week as planned. I'd hate to see a shot at an epic PR ruined by an epic injury.
Distance=45.0/ GPA=35.4/10= 3.54