Training 5/8-5/14

5/8- Lakeshore 5 in 38:45 (7:45 pace) with even splits.  Felt good but this is a bit puzzling.  This was only 25 seconds slower than 10K race pace and probably about even with half marathon pace yet it felt easy today.  I actually slowed down to the 8:15 range at the very end and it felt like a stumble.    Maybe the Taurine did slow me down in Corinth.  I still feel like something is missing in my formula.  I've re-ordered the Liver Beef but even if it's tolerated, it will only be taken 1-2 times per week.  Added a mile cool.  Good job.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=6.0

5/9- Pyramid workout at Vestavia.  I don't think I've done a decent interval workout since November of 2015 so expectations weren't real high.  Workout was 400-800-1200-800-400 plus a final 400 all out.  I was expecting a 90-95 second pace per lap and came in right in the middle of that range.
Splits were 94-3:07-4:43-3:08-93-81 with an R of 1 minute per lap.  That's an overall pace of 6:11.  Next time, I'll shoot for 6:08.  Decent workout but I still think there's something missing in my formula and unless it's found, I will plateau even with steady training.  Tomorrow may be our first 90 degree day but with low humidity, I can still push it.
Grade:B+/2 credit/distance=3.0

5/10- Trak Shak 5 in 38:25 (7:41 pace).  Tried to go hard early but didn't have a tempo in me today so I was content with the standard issue workout.  This one was hard.  Temp didn't quite hit 90 but it was sunny and more humid than I expected.  Faded to the 7:50 range on the back half but still not bad overall.  We'll see if I can go hard tomorrow.  Either way, I'll win with a decent long run.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=5.0

5/11- Gold's 5 in 37:34 (7:31 pace).  Just like yesterday, standard issue pace felt fine.  I set the cruise control to 7:30 and felt just as fresh in Mile 4 as I did in Mile 1.  Granted, it was indoors and on a dead flat track so it would have been more like 7:40 on the Trak Shak route in 85 degree heat.  Still, I felt a lot more comfortable overall in doing so.  In Mile 5, I made a brief attempt to pick up the pace and held it for just 2 laps in the low-7 range before slowing down at the end.
Big question: Why is it that I can feel so comfortable at 7:30 pace yet if I drop down to 7:15, it's almost a race effort?  I believe it could be a mitochondrial issue and better Iron and copper regulation could be the answer.  The Liver Beef will arrive either Saturday or Monday.
Grade:B+/1 credit/distance=5.5

5/12- Planned rest day.  Weather looks iffy for tomorrow

5/13- AM- Another FAILED group run and made a fool of myself again by going out with the lead pack then dropping out less than 2 miles in.  Turned around at 1.75 and slow jogged it home.  Passed 3 miles just over 27 then treated the last half mile as a cool down.  The culprit was IP-6.  Things went from bad to worse after I took more of that stuff.  Tacked on another junk mile in over 11 minutes.

PM- The Liver Beef did arrive and I rebounded a bit.  Sneaked under the Mendoza line with a 23:54 performance in the Gold's 3 mile (7:58 pace).  Got off to a good start but faded to the 8:15 range late.  Still had the sub-8 pace all the way.  I can still get a win this week with a decent long run tomorrow.
Grade:D+/1 credit/distance=7.5

5/14- I need to preface this by saying that I did take a 2nd Liver pill yesterday evening.  I did not run afterwards but did feel a little off.  I started out today on Lakeshore with neither the Liver nor the IP-6 and ran the first 1.5 mile leg in a pathetic 14:48 (9:52 pace) then popped a Liver and got WORSE.  I could not run at all after that.  I then tried some more IP-6 and got a small boost.  The next half mile was 4:48 (9:36 pace) then I quit.

PM- Tacked on another junk mile on Wisteria in 9:04.  Took the evening dose of IP-6 after the run and got noticeably WORSE.  That answers all the questions.  Both IP-6 AND LIVER ARE NO NOs!  It's gotta be a liver flush, blood donation or no further action.
Grade:F/2 credit/distance=2.0

Weekly summary:
Distance =30 miles.  GPA= 2.24
YTD: 572 miles.  3-15 with a 2.01 GPA