Training 10/8-10/14

10/8- Drove back to the 'Ham but did not get back until almost 6 PM so the gym was the best option.  Indoor 6 at GMP and finished a few seconds fast at 43-flat (7:10 pace).  Some pacing variability here as I backed off after a 7:03 2nd mile.  1st half: 21:28, 2nd half: 21:32.  Slight tightness early but nothing to worry about.  I felt fresh after 2 days off (not including the 2 junk miles) and had little-no ill-effect from a bit of alcohol over the weekend.  I am officially a believer in Fructosin.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=6.5

10/9- OUTSTANDING!  Easy 8 in 58:36 (7:19 pace).  I sincerely tried to slow down but I ran like a machine.  I was an even 7:20 (+/-3 seconds) the entire way.  Barely an ounce of pain over the entire run.  I have a tempo on tap tomorrow.  I will lower the bar a bit on that one but the fact that I will not be running with the Gnomes in the morning should boost the pace.
Grade:A+/1 credit/distance=8.0

10/10- Trak Shak 5 at tempo effort in 32:32 (6:30 pace).  Race pace for the first 2 miles then allowed myself to relax a bit before bringing it home pretty strong.  1st half: 15:54, 2nd half: 16:38.  That's a lot more of a fade than I would like but it's still a strong performance overall.  6:30 tempo and 7:30 easy seems like a winning formula.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=5.5

10/11- Easy 7 on Lakeshore in 51:20 (7:20 pace).  Very strong.  I was under GMP for the first half then was able to back off to a steady 7:30 for the 2nd half.  Added a mile cool.  Again, nary an ounce of pain during the run.  Well on track for 50+ on the week.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=8.0

10/12- I feel good enough to run today, maybe even good enough for a quality session but until further notice, I'm sticking with the plan to take one rest day per week. Hope to pick up some new tempo/interval shoes today.  The old Luna Racers need to be retired.

10/13- Good run with the Gnomes.  I went rogue most of the way and am unsure of the time because of GPS issues.  Pace was pretty steady around 7:20ish and felt pretty good at that pace but it's somewhat deceptive because I took a lot of time at water stops.  It was sunny and pushing 70 degrees when I finished.  I do know that my distance was 15.33 miles and I had a little something left in the last .33.  Added just a little bit of glacial jogging to make it legit at 15.5.  I can afford a pretty easy day tomorrow.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=15.5

10/14- Lakeshore 6.5 in 47:58 (7:23 pace).  Pretty similar to Thursday.  Way too fast for the first 3 miles then backed off to a pace slightly over 7:30 over the 2nd half.  In the last mile, I was actually working a bit to hold the pace.  Overall, it was still a strong performance.  I'll be a little lenient with the grade since this one followed a long run.  Tacked on a 1 mile cool.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=7.5

Weekly summary:
  Paces are very fast but when I'm healthy, this training is really not that hard.  When I can manage to run 52 MPW with some quality while feeling comfortable at 7:15 pace, I think that's BQ shape.  I'm pretty close and I've got another 2 years before I make the attempt.  2 good weeks of training ahead until Vulcan.  YTD mileage is now 1,587.  I believe that this is only the 2nd time on record that I made all "A" or "A-" workouts and I now have a decent cushion on the 3.0 for the year.
Distance=51.0/ GPA= 30.5/8= 3.81