Training 8/13-8/19

8/13- Good start to the week.  Lakeshore 6.5 in 47:57 (7:23 pace).  Started off at marathon pace and saw a 7:10 in Mile 2 then gradually backed off from there.  Humid conditions but not too warm and steamy.  Quite pleased with this one coming off the hard weekend.  I plan to go hard tomorrow and might pay for this one.  It will either be a tempo or interval session but not a sprint workout.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=7.0

8/14-  Not a very good day.  Workout was about average on the surface.  5 mile tempo in 33:40 (6:44 pace) with a pretty nasty fade (16:30/17:10). Tempo runs should be a least a minute faster per mile than easy workouts.   A bigger concern is that the heel pain was troublesome.  Perhaps, I overstressed a still weak ligament too soon.  If that's the case, I could be in trouble.  I may need another treatment and perhaps a whole week off.  Hopefully, no more than that.  I also cheated on my diet today.  Again, once a week won't kill me but any more and I know I'll be hurting.  I get an average grade today based on my pace but this is not good.  Let's see if an easy day tomorrow and a rest on Thursday leaves me ready to roll again.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=5.5

8/15- BAFA day (anniversary of 1st cross-country practice) was not worth celebrating this year.  Mediocre performance at the Trak Shak.  I slogged through 5 miles in 38:38 (7:43 pace) with another fade at the end.  Splits were 18:55/19:43 and I had to work to maintain sub-8 at the end.  The only good news is that the foot held up.  I think the problem is clearly too much too soon on a weak ligament that was NOT bulletproof immediately after prolo.  My gut says to survive the rest of the week with slow runs, schedule an appointment early next week and take the whole week off.  Then set a ceiling of only 30 miles the following week. It sucks for now but these are the dog days. I don't think I've ever run well in the month of August.   Better now than in Sept/Oct.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=5.5

8/16- Planned rest day.  Not feeling well at all because I took 1/2 a pill last night.  The negative reaction confirms that I no longer need that stuff.  I deleted the Relapse post because it was only a 1 day issue and no longer relevant.  I remain off the pills and it's been 50 days.  I've never lasted even half this long before. The foot does seem to be improving a bit but one treatment will not be enough.  I can do easy runs and marathon paced runs on it right now and that's it.  No speed or tempo permitted.  I will call the doctor this afternoon and see if he has an appointment for early next week.

Update: I did get an appointment next Thursday morning (8/23) and indeed I will take the whole week off next week with nothing big the following week.

8/17- Another poor performance.  I'm ready for the week off.  3 miles indoors in 23:43 (7:51 pace) with a last mile in 8:17.  I took a short rest then clocked a 7:38 mile while trying to avoid forefoot contact then ran another half mile barefoot.  Mile 4 was enough to keep me from an "F"
Grade:D/1 credit/distance= 4.5
Update:  It has become clear that chia fruit bars are BAD for me.  Too much sugar.

8/18- FRUCTOSE MALABSORPTION DISORDER.  That's my self-diagnosis.  Even a supposedly healthy super food that was supposed to help blood sugar regulation cannot be tolerated because it has too much sugar.  My limit per day is somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 g.  The only thing that may help is certain types of probiotics (without prebiotics) but I have to be super strict for the next 4 weeks and cannot expect much improvement for about 5 days.  Perfect time for a week break.
Workout today was a 2.5 mile junk run and my pace was so bad that I'm embarrassed to reveal it.

PM- Naked 3 miler on Wisteria.  I'm sure that my pace was no better but this one was less of a struggle mentally without the watch.  This was nothing more than a junk run to pad my mileage.  I don't expect tomorrow to be much better either.  If I hit December 31st at 1990 miles instead of 1985, I'll sure be glad that I got out there today.
Grade:D/2 credit/distance=5.5

8/19- Very little improvement over yesterday, which was not a surprise.  2 miles indoors in 16:42.  Yesterday, my pace went up to near 9.  Today, I kept it under 8:30.  Unless I double this afternoon, I'm taking an "F" on the day.
Grade:F/1 credit/distance=2.0

Weekly summary:
No comments needed.
Distance=30.0/ GPA= 14.7/8= 1.84