Training 5/14-5/20

5/14- Naked 7 miler on Lakeshore.  I estimate that the pace was near 7:40.  Basic run of the mill affair.  Nothing too exciting to report.  Day 1 back on the strict diet.  I had just 2 Gu Chomps but even that was enough to feel the caffeine.  Sprint workout tomorrow.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=7.0

5/15- Sprint workout at Hoover Middle on a crappy asphalt track.  There was a meet at the HS.  Again, I ran naked because it's hard to get an accurate self time and I wasn't sure of the exact distances.  Workout was 4x250 then 6x100 all out with full recoveries.  Perhaps a little sluggish but I feel like my sprinting form is improving.  Added a Mile warm and cool.  The 250s were a challenge mentally.  I'm used to running 200s and I'm running the same effort plus another 25%.  The 100s felt much nicer.  Hopefully, I built some strength and raw speed today.  The real test is Friday's Mile.  At the very least, I want under 5:30 and I want to be at least sub-64 in the 400 even slightly off form. No caffeine.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=3.0

5/16- AM- 3 miles in 23:00 (7:40 pace).  Heavy and sore.  I'm starting to get concerned that sprint training won't work for me.  Not going to panic yet.  I may be having a healing reaction to the lack of caffeine.  This is only day 3.  Trak Shak workout this evening.  Not planning a fast pace.

PM- Planned on 8 miles but had to settle for 5.  Felt worse as the day progressed.  It's clearly the pills.  Perhaps, the cheating on my diet has little to do with this latest slump.  Still, staying on track can't hurt me in any way.  It can only help me.  It appears that 5:5 must be adjusted, probably to 5:4 and in the end, it could go back to 5:3.  Almost forgot to post the workout.  5 mile loop in 39:15 (7:51 pace).  Even pace and it took a tempo effort to run a slow easy pace.  Mediocre effort.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=8.0

5/17- Today was a planned rest day.  Lowered the magnesium to 400 mg. and there was not a significant difference in how I felt during the day.  This was a planned rest day but I chose a junk run on Wisteria to make up yesterday's shortfall.  Finished 2 miles in 14:30 (7:15 pace) with fairly even splits despite an slight incline for most of the 2nd mile.  I did feel a bit better during the run than I did yesterday.  I will try to go back to my original dosage of 5:3 tomorrow.  Not sure if I will do the time trial as planned.  I CANNOT LIVE WITH THESE CONSTANT ADJUSTMENTS!
Grade:Pass/0 credit/distance=2.0

5/18- First day on the 5:3 ratio.  I did my Mile time trial at Vestavia as planned.  Went out at a fast and controlled effort then made a push after 200 (to maintain pace) then tried to hold it to the line.
Splits were 77-81-83-77= 5:18.36 (fastest time since '99) and just 3 seconds off the lifetime goal.  I may have had it if I had worn my spikes instead of the Lunar Racers.  Man, that last 200 was hard.  I knew that I would either make or miss my adult PR by 1 second.  My legs were jello in the last 100 but I managed to run it in 18 secs.
Grade:A/3 credits/distance=3.0

5/19 AM- less than 12 hours later:
Run with the Gnomes.  Pace felt too slow and really felt like a drag to do 8:00 pace so I threw in a couple of pick ups.  Finished 12 miles in 1:31:46 (7:39 pace) and felt good despite having to make one "emergency stop."  That was probably due to continued magnesium excess. Added a mile cool. Despite the strong time last evening, I was probably still off my tip top form by 1-2 % (3-6 seconds).  Weather was good today but I'm afraid that now that I'm back to good form, it's too late to PR due to the heat.  I can wait until late evening but then I have more humidity.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=13.0

5/20- Early morning run on Lakeshore.  Able to finish before 8:30 so I beat most of the heat.  It was still  near 75 and sunny when I finished but not too humid.  I felt rife with energy when I woke up and knew that this would be a good run.  I needed to take it fairly easy because next week will be front loaded due to my trip home over the weekend.  I tried to slow down but my body didn't want to.  Finished 6.5 miles in 47:39 (7:20 pace) plus a cool.  I feel like I could double up and make it 50 on the week but I need to hit it hard early next week.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=7.0

Weekly summary:
Another winning week and this one really does feel like a winner.  I've settled back to my original 5:3 dosage.  Can I stay there?  That's another issue.  I did have two beers on Saturday and a 1/2 bottle of green tea on Friday.  That's okay.  I'm not convinced that my drink choice had much to do with this slump but it can only help to drink more water and less sugar.  Oh yeah, if you include the unofficial 10K this winter, I am only 1 fast lap away from a clean sweep of PRs for 2012.  I am now convinced that the Mile goal is attainable right now.  Probably still need more work for the 400.  Passed 750 miles on the year with Saturday's run.
Distance=43.0/ GPA= 34.4/10= 3.44