5 days...

Last week went pretty well overall.  Any and all remnants of my upper left thigh pain are now completely gone.  My left knee has been a bit weird the last two days, but I think that is just pre-race fake pain.  I'm actually pretty excited, relatively confident, and still very mindful of the task that is off in the distance.

My week from last Monday..






Monday:
AM: 4 miles, easy

Tuesday:
AM: 7 miles, easy
PM: 8.5 miles with 9x800 meters at 2:38-2:40 pace with one 2:32 thrown in there.  ~80 seconds rest between most, 1 lap rest every 4th.  I was actually doing this with a group of runners doing a 3 x 3200meter at a pace a bit too fast for me so close to a goal race (and probably too fast normally), so I jumped on the wagon for an 800, rested for one of their laps, then jumped back on.  It was a great workout and I felt really strong.  It was good to get some shorter stuff in for a change of pace.

Wednesday
 AM: 4 miles, easy
 PM: 7 miles, easy

Thursday

AM: 9 miles total, with a few miles in the 6:40 range...joined a couple people who were doing a tempo paced workout on the track, just offering my company as I have the past few weeks.  Felt very relaxed.

Friday
AM: 4 miles easy
PM...was going to run, but had a few beers with a coworker who moved on to another job.  It's taper time anyway, so I didn't mind.

Saturday
8 miles, marathon pace.  Every mile was between 5:57-6:05 with one quick one at 5:52.  I was surprised by how shitty 3 beers made me feel.  Talk about being a light weight...  Regardless, after 3 or 4 miles, I started to feel better and by the end, it really didn't feel like I even ran.  So my pacing is down pat now.  I can do it in snow, rain, on tight muscles, and with what was apparently a slight hangover.

Sunday

14 miles total...

2 miles warm up, 2 miles at 5:30 pace, 4 miles easy, 2 miles at some kind of fast pace, 1 mile easy, 1 mile fast, 2 miles cool down.

My watch died in the middle of this workout.  I knew I needed a new battery but was hoping I could get one more workout in!  Not quite though, as it went dead after my 2 @ 5:30 pace.  I felt like absolute crap during the second pickup, which is why I threw in the 1 mile easy.  I think I just ended up running it way too hard without the watch to guide me.  I can guess quick paces on a track pretty well, but on a trail with mile markers, it's a lot tougher.  I still got the run in though, so that's all that matters.



Mileage: 66.5.

I've concluded that I can run mid 60 mile weeks forever.  It seems to be my sustainable sweet spot, though just a tad short of true peak training.



So far in this week...

Monday

AM: 4 miles, easy
PM: 6 miles, quick

Tuesday:

6.5 miles, with 4x400 meter around 75-80 pace



Things are looking good.  All that's left now is the race.  I'll make one more post regarding my plan (it's real simple), then it will be time to finally get to the start line of a marathon race healthy!!  Being that I was 4 minutes short of being a seeded runner, I have to settle for corral 2 at Philly, but I'll be at the very front of said corral.

5 days...