Training 3/5-3/11

3/5- 7.5 miler in 55:28 (7:24 pace). That's a pretty solid pace but not real pleased with this workout. Ca/Mag may need to be adjusted again. I'm NOT happy about this at all. It seems like it may progress to instability. Please no. I'll adjust again. Faded a bit in the last half but the real concern was that I had considerable groin discomfort esp. in the last half mile and on the cool down. Another split decision. I get an "A" on pace but a "C" on how I felt.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=8.0

3/6- There are a lot of good weather days to run fast long intervals and time trials in March and April. The only problem is that tracks are rarely open because of soccer games. I had to drive around for almost an hour after work today and ended up at South Lakeshore. The plan was hard 200s with full recoveries and a long warm and cool. I only timed the warmup, which was a relaxed 10:46 for 1.5 miles (7:11 pace). I found it so hard to run 200s on the road instead of the track. Part of it was mental. I did not time it but it really didn't feel very fast. I only did 4 with a 200 jog in between and another 1.5 as a cool down. This will suffice as my first 400 meter oriented workout of the season. Next week will be 6 reps on the track. Hoover is most likely to be open and if it's not, there's a crap asphalt track at the middle school next door. I really can't call this a quality session. Thursday will be long intervals. More magnesium and less calcium worked well.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=4.0

3/7- Trak Shak 5 in 34:03 (6:49 pace) plus mile cool. First 4 were at moderate effort (27:40) then turned in on and ran the last Mile at 10K race pace. Felt comfortable through 4 and was barely winded at the end. Operating at 100 percent. Can I keep it up? We shall see. I hope this effort will not hurt me tomorrow. Still planning intervals.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=6.0

3/8- Good intervals today at Hoover. One of my favorite ladder workouts.
400-800-1200-1200-800-400. Plan was to be slightly under 6:00 pace then smoke the last quarter. R was 1 min. per lap of previous interval.
Results: 87-2:57-4:23-4:26-2:53-69. Overall pace was 5:45. This workout really did not feel that hard. I normally struggle in the 1200s but not so today. Final quarter was pretty good but I didn't feel like the power was all there. I feel that I have the strength to PR in the 5K for sure and possibly the Mile but I've clearly lost a step in the 400. Strong performance. Time to strive for 85 per lap next time.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=4.0

3/9- Planned rest day. I feel well enough to run but I need to save it for a quality long run.
Did a lot of speed this week and need some LSD now. LOL!

3/10- Gnome run. 3rd straight sub-par long run. Went with all magnesium today and it was a bad call. 3 miles at warm up pace (8:00), another 3 between HM-FM pace (7:00) then a death march. 7th mile was just over 8, 8th was 8:40, last 2 were over 9. Overall time of 79:45 (7:58 pace) looks better than it really is because I stopped to walk several times. Am I unstable again? Please God, no! I will try again tomorrow.
Grade:D/2 credits/distance=10.0

3/11- Easy 7 on Lakeshore in 55:25 (7:55 pace) plus a mile cool down. On the surface, it seems like no improvement over yesterday but it really was a bit better. Yesterday was a death march to the finish. Today, I took off at just under 8 minute pace and held it. No matter what I tried, my pace stayed about the same all the way through. I was sluggish and sore the whole way but it never got any worse. Every mile was 7:49-8:01. I believe I had another 3 in me but with my biomechanics off, one bad step could lead to injury so I wisely called it a day after 7. Also, I did this run on zero pills and I have reason for optimism heading into next week.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=8.0

PM- 1 Mile junk run at Mountain Brook. Legs felt better. Time was 6:45 with a 15 second negative split. Again, there is reason for optimism tomorrow but this does not change my grade
Grade:None/0 credit/distance=1.0

Weekly summary:
Second time in the last three weeks, I finished below 3.0. I barely hit 40 miles and sucked again on my long run. 3 weeks to set things right before my next round of racing. I'm not going to hide my displeasure but being off the pills again gives me reason to hope.
Distance=41.0/GPA= 21.4/8= 2.68