11/14- No matter how well I feel, I am resting today. Let the taper madness begin. This is a 2 week post because I'm traveling over Thanksgiving and won't be able to run much. I'll be lucky to hit 50 combined. Not to worry though. December will be big. Signed up for the 3M Austin half in January then it's the Mercedes full 2 weeks later. Early forecast looks pretty good for Arkansas.
11/15- Taper madness is in full swing. I was really restless last night and did not feel right this morning so I decided to do a small test to see if it's paranoia or the usual race week drama that includes a last minute adjustment to my formula. Good call on the test.
AM- 3 miles in 21:30 (7:10 pace) looks okay on the surface but I did not feel well at all even from the beginning. Splits were 6:59-7:12-7:19 and my muscles were quite stiff. This is NOT taper paranoia. 1 Mile cool down and I will try again in the evening. Tomorrow, I will try to reduce my dosage from 3 to 2. Unless I am balanced, I really don't feel comfortable going any lower than 2.
PM- No improvement over the morning. 2.5 miles in 18:06 (7:14 pace). Started out at 7:20 pace and held it for 2 miles but it felt quite uncomfortable. Final half mile, nearly all out, was run in 3:26. Last half mile was run at goal half pace so that's just barely enough to avoid a "D" grade. Added another half mile cool down. The dosage will be cut to 2 pills per day.
Grade:C-/1 credit/distance=7.0
11/16- AM-Worse than yesterday. I'm at the other extreme now. Will I need 2 pills or 2.5? I'll know by the afternoon. I have 3 days to figure this crap out. I felt awful from the get go and was cooked after 200 meters. I wanted to quit then and there but finished 1 Mile in 7:28.
PM- 3 miles at goal 10K pace. Finished in 19:10 (6:23 pace) with nearly dead even splits. After taking a pill late in the afternoon, I was pretty much back to normal. Maybe just a hair tight so it appears that 2 pills will do the trick, not 2.5. That's good. I don't like cutting them in half. My Achilles felt a little tender after I was done but did not bother me at all on the cool down. Still, I will take the precautions. I expect that tomorrow, I will have all of this figured out. Weather still looks decent for race day. Cloudy with temps near 50.
I get a "D" in the morning and a "B+" in the afternoon so it's an average of the 2.
Grade:B-/2 credit/distance=4.5
11/17- Another stressful taper has been completed. I felt some old injuries coming back. I sure hope it's just taper paranoia. Magic formula is currently somewhere between 2 and 3 pills and I still don't know. I'll just have to take little bits on race morning until I feel my best. AARRRGH! I feel pretty down on my chances. I jogged 3/4 mile then ran a 1/4 at 5K pace.
Grade:Pass/0 credit/distance=1.5
11/18- Complete rest. There may be a delay in posting the race report because I'm traveling.
11/19- White River half in 1:33:34
Grade:B/4 credits/distance=14.0
11/20- Planned rest day.
11/21- Still don't feel very well. No desire to run so it's another rest. I'm leaning towards a mini break (3-5 days off) but that could change if I get the itch to run tomorrow. 3-5 days won't kill my fitness and may help prevent burnout.
11/22- Feeling somewhat better but I'm still going with an elective rest day. I plan to run tomorrow.
P.M- I couldn't wait. 1 Mile junk run in the rain with no watch. Foot pain from the race was gone. The groin was a tad sore. I had been extremely inactive since 11/19 and it sure felt good to get out there even if it was for less than 10 minutes in dreary conditions. Still essentially a rest day but I feel like I'll be back full throttle by tomorrow.
Grade:Pass/0 credit/distance= 1.0
11/23- 6 mile tempo in 40:42 (6:47 pace). Pretty solid performance. Still a bit of foot pain and it's beginning to be a concern. I'm due for another round of prolo anyway and I can treat that as well as the groin.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=6.0
11/24- Terrible performance on Thanksgiving. 6 miles in 51:32 (8:35 pace). First 3 miles were on target at 23:02, last 3 were a pathetic 28:30 (9:30 avg) with a final mile in 9:52. I pitched a bottle of pills that may be the cause of this latest slump. AWFUL! The only reason this is not an F is that I actually finished the workout.
Grade:D-/1 credit/distance=6.0
11/25- Still not good by any stretch but a nice improvement over yesterday's debacle. Easy 5 on the trail in 38:40 (7:44 pace). That time is within my easy range but the effort was tempo level. Faded again in the 2nd half but managed to keep my pace below 8 until the very last part. My foot did not bother me at all during the run and is only mildly sore now. I expect to pass 1900 miles on the year in my next workout.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=5.0
11/26- Elective rest day. Toured Sun Studios and got some tasty fried chicken on Beale Street in Memphis. Got back to the Ham in time to see the 2nd half of the Iron Bowl.
11/27- It looks like the slump may be over. This is probably the best I've felt in 2 weeks. I'm done with the Juice Plus and I'll take the higher dose of Thym Adren. Still a trace of foot pain but I don't think it's anything to worry about. I had hoped to do a double digit run today but we've got an all day rain and I won't do a long run indoors. I was quite pleased with the workout. 6 miles at an easy effort with a time of 44:48 (7:28 pace). Nice steady pace and even effort. 1st half: 22:44, 2nd half: 22:44. How about that? It's 1 PM and I'm not leaving my apartment for the rest of the day.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=6.0
Weekly summary:
Down week overall but at least there is an explanation. Unless I can squeeze in a time trial, I will fall short of all of my lifetime goals this year again. Ugh. With nearly 5 weeks to go on the year, I need only 99 miles to hit 2,000 or less than 3 per day. That should be a cinch. Can I finish above 3.0 for the year. That one is going to be close. The way I felt these 2 weeks is worse than the GPA indicates.
Distance=51.0/GPA= 32.1/12= 2.68
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