Liftoff

AM: 20 miles. Another slog. I went to bed early and hoped to spring out of bed feeling awesome. Not so much.

Small improvement, but still weak, no appetite. Anyway, I had decided I was going to attempt the scheduled workout: 12 miles @ MP+1, then 8 @ MP (6:55 / 5:55).

As I got going, I wasn't feeling absolutely awful, which is something. But I was struggling to crack 7:00 pace without excessive effort, which was not a good sign. I ran from my place to Demen's Landing to meet up with the crew. Even though I was averaging at least 5 secs/mile too slow, I hoped Christina would have the group charged up and rocking to bring things down. Her and Quint just staggered off a cruise ship with their kids though, so we were in a similar boat, so to speak. Somewhere around mile 10 I just gave up and went into full slog mode. I tried a clever route home through Venetian Isle, and got lost.

So, on one hand this all sounds pretty bad. 8 weeks out from TCM now, and no serious workouts in the last two weeks. I'm doomed!

On the other, I remember I also got stomach flu last year at this exact time. And I also remember I recovered well enough to run one of my best races of last season in late September. Even though I haven't run high quality, I've kept up the running and have put in some minor workouts. I don't think I've lost too much, although I don't feel that sharp edge right now.

So in a nutshell, I'll postpone the major freakout for another week or so. It's also a bit out of my hands. I got as much sleep as possible last week, ate well...I just need my body to kick this thing.

AM: 4 miles.

PM: 8 miles at lunch with Quint.

Meditation Monday. Originally this week was planned as a down week capped by a track 5000 on Saturday. On the surface, dropping a short track race into this stage of marathon training seems out of place.

Beside synching up with the down week, my reason is that I find interjecting these short, fast races every 5-6 weeks helps reset my marathon pace.

I need the majority of my workouts now to be tough and specific. These workouts are hard in the best of conditions, and the conditions in FL right now are pretty far from ideal. I do think it's possible to get them done, but for me one of the keys is running a whole lot faster, even just for 5k.

At this point though, if the best I can manage is a mediocre 5000, I'd probably be better off running mediocre marathon workouts late this week and weekend. I do feel a lot better today, hopefully it will stick.

I'm planning to run 3x1 mile at track tomorrow. That should clarify where things stand.

AM: 6 miles.

PM: 7 miles at track. The session didn't go as I envisioned, but that was not a bad thing.

As I was leaving my house, I got a text from Lee informing me that Jon Mott would be joining us tonight. Jon lives about 100 miles from St. Pete, and drops in on our group about once a year. When he does, it always creates a stir because he is currently the fastest marathon runner in Florida. This past January, he ran 2:18:12 in Houston. Having the opportunity to run with someone like that is a huge draw for me, so I chucked my planned workout and decided to just get in whatever I could with him.

I knew Jon was showing up on the late side, so I sat around for awhile. Eventually I did a short warmup, then ran 3x1 mile with a slower group at 6:50, 6:40, 6:30.

Just as I was beginning to pack it in, Jon arrived. We went through his warmup and caught up. His plan was 6x1 mile in the 4:40-4:50 range, although he recalibrated a bit after warming up. The conditions today were ridiculous (91 F/79 DP). I ran the first mile with him in 4:57, grateful for the built-in excuse to bow out.

It was interesting to see his approach and idiosyncrasies when running an interval workout. I wish he lived closer.

I did decide tonight to skip the 5000 on Saturday. I felt alright today - maybe not 100%, but good enough to bring my focus back to my marathon plan. Hopefully today will give me the spark I was looking for in Saturday's race. Since I wasn't planning on marathon workouts this week, skipping the race will help get me back on track.

AM: 6 miles.

PM: 8 miles at lunch with Quint.

I finally succumbed and started reading Born To Run. There's a local eccentric who runs endless circuits up and down the Pinellas Trail in flip-flops, carrying a staff.

Just background info in case my training takes a sudden detour.

AM: 12 miles. 81 F / 76 DP. Ran 10 miles @ MP for 58:57 (5:54 avg). Felt relieved to finally hit a good workout again after two weeks of illness. Effort was higher than marathon pace should be, but I'll take it.

AM: 7.5 miles.

PM: 8.5 miles. I was tired after yesterday's tempo, but not beat up. Sunday is the next hard long run - I thought today to throw in a very light workout.

After a half mile warmup, I did 8 miles alternating MP/Easy Pace every .5, which was really fun. Some quicker running, but not enough to really hurt. MP was sub 5:55 mile avg, easy today was between 7:30-8:00.

AM: 10 miles. Uh, wha...??? Today was the least humid August morning I can ever recall in FL.