Races for the Fall? Sure!

If it was up to me, I would register for all my races no more than a week in advance.  Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in, so I finally broke open the wallet and filled out my fall schedule.  This is subject to the addition of a 5K in September and a 5K or 10K in October...

July:
Maryland 2xrip "Olympic Duathlon" 2 mile run, 26 mile bike, 4 mile run (7/15)
Rockville Twilight 8K (7/21)

August:
Highway to Heaven Time Trial (bike race, up a hill): (8/11)
Lums Pond Duathlon: 2 mile run, 19.5 mile flat bike, 3.3 mile run (8/19) (sandbag 2.0?)
Annapolis 10 Miler: (8/26)

September:
Philadelphia Distance Run (Half Marathon): (9/16)

October:
Baltimore Marathon, 3:10 pacer (10/13)

November:
Richmond Marathon (11/11)


Despite my marathon troubles of late, I'm going for it again.  The name of the training game this time though will merely be to maintain.  I'll stretch out my endurance, but I have no intention of adding anymore "cylinders" to the engine.  Despite my best efforts to sabotage myself, somehow I'm still in really good running shape, and I'm only running 35 miles a week.  With some sharpening over the next couple of months, I have a feeling that a conservative mindset may pay dividends this fall.  After the Maryland 2xrip race, there are 18 weeks to Richmond, a perfect time to start transitioning more to running.

However, I have no intention of exceeding 60-65 miles per week through at least the Philly Distance Run.  Beyond that, I plan to top out at no more than 75 miles per week.  I've gone above 80 miles per week in two clusters and both times it helped at first, and then everything came crashing down.  Somehow, the "good" parts of that training are still in my legs, and I've rested and healed away all the "bad" parts.  Maybe now I can get to November firing on the cylinders I already have, which should be good enough to get me a "reasonable" marathon time, even if I don't know exactly what that reasonable time is, yet.

But enough rambling, here is the miles report...
Monday: Run, easy, easy 3 miles.  My calf muscles were sore as crap after that 5K roller coaster

Tuesday: Commute to and from work: 13 miles
                Run: 6.5 miles, easy, calf muscles felt better

Wednesday: Arbutus 10K, 9.2 ish miles with warm up/cool down. 34:53, 5:38 pace.

Thursday: Bike: 38.5 miles total with a morning commute and a 31 ish mile ride from my office to my apartment.  It was hot as shit out and I suffered.  It also didn't help that I only used ice water in my bottles instead of frozen water.  Everything got hot and nasty way too fast.  Gatorade is also disgusting when it is warm.  If it wasn't actually 100 degrees according to the forecast, I can guarantee you it was in downtown Baltimore on that awful pavement.

Friday: Run: AM: 4 miles, really easy  PM (late night): 7 miles, easy
            Bike: 14 miles (slightly extra), commute

I was originally going to ride on Friday, but the weather made me rethink that.  Another 100+ day made me realize that perhaps I should wait for the sun to go down and just run at night instead.  It is amazing how much easier it is to run at night, even when it's still hot as shit out.

Saturday: 45 mile bike ride.  I started at 6:15AM and it was 80 degrees out.  It was at least 90 when I finished.  Despite feeling terrible, with tired legs I actually rode pretty well, not much slower than I usually ride.  Though, I did cut it 5 miles short.  No problems with food or drink on this ride!

               Run: easy 5 miles after the sun went down.  My running legs felt much better than my cycling legs.

Sunday: 31.7 mile bike ride with my aero bars, mostly just to practice for next week.  I'm planning to stay glued to those suckers next Sunday unless I hit a climb I've got to get out of the saddle for, or have to take a sharp turn.  All these bike miles, Wednesday night rides, and occasional sprinting have made me better able to grind out hills and tougher sections without having to downshift as much as I used to.  Keep those watts up!

Totals:
Run:  34.7 miles
Bike: 142.2 miles

Still only 5 days of running, but I'm running well enough right now that I don't really care.  This upcoming week may be my last of 5 days of running for a while.