Monday, November 20, 2017

Training 11/20-11/26

Let's begin with a couple more thoughts on yesterday's race.  It was my best time in 3 years and faster than my last 3 pre-35 races.  In 5 half marathons this year, I broke 1:50 each time (1:42-1:49) despite the fact that 3 of the 5 were run at altitude.  By comparison, I broke that barrier only once in six tries before that.  With all the ups and downs and the losing record overall, I am clearly headed in the right direction.

11/20- 4 miles at Gold's in a quite comfortable 29:10 (7:18 pace).  Again, this was done THE DAY AFTER A HALF MARATHON!  The evidence is crystal clear now.  I had more to give out there yesterday but there is a missing link that is preventing me from access to my top gear just as I've said all along.  How else do you explain running 30 seconds faster than race pace while actually feeling more comfortable?  I swear that I was NOT dogging it yesterday either.  It really was as fast as I could go.  I did cut the PABA dose a bit, which was likely a good call.  I still need glycine but the Ultimate B is probably no longer necessary.  I believe there is a chance that NADH is the missing link.  According to the bottle, the full benefit is not achieved until 30 days of use.
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=4.5

11/21-AM- 3 miles in 21:48 (7:16 pace).  Strong again.  No Ultimate B and it made little difference.  I can definitely feel a shift thanks to the NADH.  I wanted to go longer but was pressed for time and didn't want to push too hard during a shift because it's too unpredictable.  HR is back up to the 150 range, which is probably about where it should be with this kind of effort.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=3.5

11/22- Planned rest day for travel.

11/23- 3 mile trail run in 22:25 (7:28 pace).  HR-144, Cadence-186.  Mildly sluggish but not too worried about it because of the change in routine.  Needed a kick to get the sub-7:30.  It feels like the PABA may be trending down and/or I still need 1 Ultimate B.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.  This was still not bad.  Not looking for high quality this week.  I just want to do enough to stay on target for 1500.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=3.5

11/24- It's been a steady decline since Tuesday and I figure that I really do need the Ultimate B after all.  Perhaps, active B-2 is the key but I'd probably go with the full complex.  Not sure if I need stand alone PABA but if so, it will be low dose.  The workout was the same 3 mile trail run as yesterday and I slipped to 23:18 (7:46 pace).  Comfortably under the Mendoza line but I had to work for it.  I suppose it is good news that the need for the Ultimate B did not hit me all at once.  I didn't even notice anything until the 3rd day when normally, I notice immediately if I forget a pill.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=3.5

11/25- Planned rest day for travel.  I still have the lead but need a half decent showing tomorrow (B-) to get the win and at least a medium-long run to keep pace for 1500.

11/26- Back in Birmingham now.  As expected, I got considerably better after taking some Ultimate B.  Still, I was not quite up for a double digit run so I settled for 6 on Lakeshore in a time of 46:12 (7:42 pace).  Started fast but faded on the back half (22:16/23:56) but that was partly by design because I knew it was too fast early.  Average performance overall.  Legs were tight and sore as if the mileage has been high when in fact, it's one of the lowest of the year.  Trip home was a bit nerve-wracking so I'm not concerned.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=6.0

Weekly summary:
This was what I'd call a cheap win but I'll take it.  I never get much over 20 miles on a holiday week and I know that it would have been better if I was able to take the Ultimate B sooner.  Not much quality or quantity this week but no real collapse either.  I am still on pace for 1500 and need to average 27.2 over the final 5 weeks.  I've got a possible race and another holiday upcoming so that won't be so easy but barring injury or illness, I'd say it's mine to lose.  I'll shoot for near 40 next week.
Distance= 21.0/ GPA= 15.4/5= 3.08
YTD: 1364 miles/  13-32 with a 2.26 GPA

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