Training 10/17-10/23

10/17- Naked 3 mile recovery jog at Veteran's Park on a beautiful evening. I'm not looking forward to the end of daylight savings time. The run itself was uneventful and I could not care less about the pace. I did have some sudden GI discomfort shortly afterwards. I cheated badly on my diet after the race and it was probably the sugar and/or caffeine that did it. A one day lapse will not do any long-term harm. The power gel did not seem to upset my stomach during the race but I do think it's possible that it hurt me a bit. From now on, I will stick to water and Gatorade for fuel.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=3.0

10/18- Easy 8 on Lakeshore in 61:56 (7:45 pace). I would have liked to have gone double digits today but I just did not feel safe doing it. Pretty solid performance and my effort was smooth and relaxed all the way. Got the workout in just before a big cold front hit. A little bit of IT band soreness but it is of no concern. I hope that I will be up for a tempo tomorrow.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=8.0

10/19- First taste of winter outside today (50 degrees and windy) but I was a new definition of RED HOT! Trak Shak 5 in 31:22 (6:17 pace). I did have to stop a couple of times for traffic but it was no worse than usual. Energy was unlimited. Even a 6:30 pace felt somewhat relaxed and I think I actually had more in the tank at the end. Splits were as follows:
6:17-6:19-6:19-6:24-6:02. Covered a 5K in approx. 19:30 en route. I believe that I had sub-40 stuff for a 10K but I will probably still focus on the half mary in November.
Grade:A+/2 credits/distance=6.0

10/20- AM run in an attempt to keep the MO going. Easy indoor 5 in 37:43 (7:33 pace). I would have liked to have done more but I didn't want to be late for work. Got in the groove in Mile 2 and turned in a 7:24 split but made a conscious effort to slow down after that. 1st half: 18:45, 2nd half: 18:58. Only gripe was a bit of groin soreness. Strong.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=5.0

10/21- Planned rest day that is more of a precaution against over training. I have a big weekend planned so mileage in the mid-40s will be fine following a race week. Since my long run is Saturday and the race was last Sunday, my 7 day mileage will be over 50.

10/22- Long run with the Gnomes. I was dumb enough to run with Brad, Eric and David. Not real smart after coming off 2 HMs in 3 weeks. 1st 3 were on target in the 7:40s then ripped off 9 with the fast group at a 7:20 average pace. With 4 miles to go, I finally fell off the pace and continued alone. Miles 13-16 were 7:28-7:41-7:57-7:11. Not much left at the end. Overall time was a 1:59:32 for 16 miles (7:28 pace) with a 714 ft. elevation gain. Pretty significant soreness in the groin and quads at the end. Not as strong as the previous LR but still solid overall.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=16.0

10/23- Brookwood/Lakeshore run. Easy 7 in 55:44 (7:58 pace). It was not a big surprise that I struggled today. I feel that the groin/quad soreness is at least partly related to taking too many Stress Pak pills. I will cut those out entirely. The run started off pretty well with a first half near 27 flat then faded to a 28:44. Weak all around.
Grade:C-/1 credit/distance=7.0

Weekly summary:
Strong week overall. Outstanding tempo and a solid long run. I only have 3 weeks of quality training left before my final race of the year and would like to average 50 miles over that time. Paces have got to slow to do that. On a side note, I have already topped my 2010 mileage this year. With 10 weeks to go, I have clinched a GPA higher than last year as well.
Distance=45.0/ GPA= 27.7/8= 3.46