Training 6/17-6/23

6/17- Day 1.  Not expecting a dramatic improvement right off the bat but I was a good deal better than yesterday.  5 miles on Lakeshore after a nice cooling rain.  It was a little steamy at the end but not too bad at all.  Finished in 37:23 (7:29 pace) with pretty even splits.  1st half: 18:35, 2nd half: 18:48.  When I'm in top form, this should be effortless.  Today, it required moderate but not tempo effort.  Decent start to the week.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=5.0

6/18- Day 2.  Gold's 6 mile in 42:26 (7:04 pace).  Started out near 7:00 pace, gradually slowed to 7:15 then found a 2nd wind around 4.5 miles and slammed a 6:41 last mile.  Still have a ways to go.  This was tempo effort and roughly 20-25 seconds slow per mile but pleased with the incremental improvement.  Hence, the lenient grading.  Weight remains on the high side at 159 but on the surface, it looks to be good weight.  It's okay to be a little heavy when training for shorter stuff but I really don't want to gain any more.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=6.5

6/19-Day 3.  A bit of a step backward but still okay.  Trak Shak 7.5 in 57:30 (7:40 pace).  Hot and hilly route.  I was on 7:30 pace through 5 then faded on the hills at the end.  Legs did not feel loose and was feeling "weird" after taking my last dose of Thym-Adren.  I'm going to try to reduce the dosage.  Not sure what to make of that.  I suppose it makes some sense.  Magnesium raises Na and K and now that I'm not taking it, I need less Thym-Adren.  I'm perfect with the diet and have not missed any Fructosin doses.  Too much Thym-Adren may be causing the weight gain.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=7.5

6/20- Day 4.  Planned rest day but I may opt for some strides or a junk run this evening to see how I feel on fewer pills.

PM- Terrible day.  Could not run in the evening even if I wanted to.  Took a trace of magnesium and got a little better then took a little more and got worse.  I went to the store and picked up some transdermal magnesium.  Thanks to Carrie for reminder!  If this does not work out, I am quitting after Peachtree.  I'd hate to see it come to that but I don't have much of a choice.

6/21- AM- Spain Park Mile time trial in 7:57.1.  Kicked hard just to break 8.  Last 400 was 1:52.  If I had run this one yesterday evening, it would have been over 10.

PM- Gold's 4 mile in an overall time of 30:54 (7:44 pace).  1st half in 15:47, 2nd half: 15:07.  There was about a 5 minute break after Mile 2 in which I applied some transdermal Mag.  It was encouraging that I was able to increase the pace so well.  Mile 4 was a 7:25.  Clinched a GPA of 1.25 for the year.  Very hollow victory.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=5.0

6/22- BTC social.  Ran it with Greg and Jeff.  It was basically the Trak Shak 8 route with a minor alteration at the end followed by a 2 mile add on.  Finished in a time of 76:53 (7:41 pace).  Continued steady improvement.  Pretty even pace with 9 of 10 miles below 8:00.  Slight fade at the end but there was a nasty climb in the last half mile.  Low-mid 70s and sunny but manageable humidity.
Grade:B+/2 credit/distance=10.0

6/23- AM. Lakeshore 5 in 35:44 (7:09 pace) at tempo effort.  Mixed feelings about this one.  Overall, the quality of the workout and the way I felt was pretty comparable to yesterday but not significantly better and I do feel that at this stage, I should be a little better every day.  I did have one mixed drink yesterday and do not feel that it hurt me.  Yesterday's 10 may have.  Without the transdermal Mag, I would have been awful today. Faded a bit at the end but temps were creeping up by the time I finished.  1st half: 17:34, 2nd half: 18:10.  I will try to increase the "dosage" of it and see what if any effect that it has.  If I load on it without ill-effects, the website's claim of no danger of an overdose will bear much weight.  I am 1 mile short of 40 on the week and may do an ungraded junk run this evening.

PM- 1 mile junk run on Wisteria in the heat of the day.  No comment.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=6.0

Weekly summary:
Win # 10 on the year thanks to lenient grading. I don't feel like I deserved it but it counts.  This week really was no better than the previous 3 but I lucked out because the weekly debacle happened to fall on my planned rest day.  It's win or else next week.  It seems unlikely that I will have to quit running but I may be relegated to recreational status if the last resort is not as effective as I hoped.
Distance=40.0/ GPA=24.2/8= 3.03
YTD: 922 miles.  Record: 10-14 with a 2.67 GPA.