Training 8/20-8/26

8/20- AM.  1 mile quickie at Vestavia.  Time is down to 7:15 with a last lap in 1:40.  That's MINUS 33 versus last time I ran that distance last Friday.  Starting to feel a little different too.  That's what I want.  Steady and gradual improvement with no more relapses.  Probably back out this evening.

PM- 3 miles at Gold's.  Again, I felt noticeably better and my time is down to 24:15 (8:05 pace).  MINUS 22.  I was shooting for the Mendoza line and came up short but I'm fine with that.  I actually DON'T want to see big numbers in the MINUS column at this stage.  If the program is working well, you should NOT notice much difference from one day to the next but rather improvement becomes evident over the course of several weeks.  Added a half mile cool.
Distance=4.5

8/21- 4 miles on Lakeshore in 31:32 (7:53 pace).  MINUS 12 over an extra mile.  Good job today. That's a solid improvement but not like night and day just like I wanted. I opened with back to back 7:46s then dialed it back on purpose.  The 8-flat pace that I maintained felt quite comfortable and I felt good enough to go another 2-3 miles.  Added half mile cool.  So far everything is going as planned the last 7 days or so.  The plan is to dial back the effort and hope to increase my distance.
Distance=4.5

8/22- AM- Woke up early for an impromptu Vestavia Mile.  Time is down to 6:50 (MINUS 25).  Splits were 1:40-1:46-1:46-1:38 so I had a negative split on the back half.  I hope this doesn't come back to bite me later in the week.  If I am to run this evening, it will be a very easy 3 probably at the Shak.  Foot is a bit sore but other than that, I feel noticeably better than just a few days ago.

PM- Trak Shak 1 and 3 route in 32:40 (8:10 pace).  Slower than yesterday but I meant to be.  Foot held up okay but I need a day off either tomorrow or Friday.  No more doubles or time trials.  Pace varied considerably (7:50-8:30) depending on the terrain.  That's curious but most likely due to leg fatigue.  Hills hurt a little more when you are not fully fresh.  Overall not too bad.
Distance=5.0

8/23- Jemison 3 mile in 23:44 (7:55 pace).  No complaints about this one.  I was leaning towards a rest day but the weather was absolutely beautiful (mid 80s with low humidity).  Even pace on a relatively flat route.  I could have gone longer but it's probably a smart call not to push the mileage at this stage.  Assuming a long run, I'll be in the low 30s this week and that's about what I should do.  Not a good idea to jump into the 40+ range.
Distance=3.0

8/24- Planned rest day.  Aiming for 12 miles tomorrow at a pace around 9.

8/25- Last week's long run was 10@ 9:42 pace.  Today, I managed 12 miles in 1:53:45 (9:29 pace).  That's considerably better than last week but short of expectations.  The rate of improvement is slowing and that is to be expected.  Perhaps a better way to look at it is this way:  I came through 10 in 93:49 (9:23 avg) without a kick.  Figure, that's a MINUS 20-22 over the same distance then I tacked on 2 more at 10 minute pace.  Still, a half mary race would have been in the 2:05 range today, which is quite poor even with the relaxed standards.  I must be in sub-2 shape if I am to race the full distance in 3 weeks.  Otherwise, I will downgrade to the 5 Miler.

Went out at 9:00 pace, which was too hard over the long distance but I kept the pace semi-respectable for a bit longer this time.  I crashed hard after 7.5 last time.  Today, I held it together for 9.
Distance=12.0

8/26- Naked 3 miler as a recovery jog from the Trak Shak.  Very slow pace but I meant it to be.
Distance=3.0

-32 miles on the week.  I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a good week by any stretch but I made it through without a relapse.  No real problem with the mileage so I'll shoot for 35 next week.