Slowly Getting Faster

After what felt like a death-march 18 mile run on Saturday I decided to take it easier this week.  I've still got 4 weeks before the marathon, including this one, so if I back it off a bit this week I will still have 3 solid weeks of decent mileage before taper time. So, instead of the 10 I planned on doing this morning, but couldn't talk myself into getting out of bed for, I ran an easy 8 tonight.

I took a route I haven't run yet just because I was bored with the one I had been running.  My regular route is nice because there is a lot of flat straight sections (easy on the ankle) and no traffic because it's all city trails.  Tonight incorporated a bit of the road but it didn't bother me as much as I thought it might. There was one place where a farmer cultivating his hay and causing quite a bit of dust, but other than that it was fine. 

In the spirit of keeping it easy this week I decided not to look at my watch.  Old habits die hard and I peaked twice.  Regardless, I managed to keep the pace comfortable and sustainable.  Avg 9:53.  According to the McMillan calculator I'm supposed to be between 9:09 and 9:50 per mile for recovery jogs (for what that's worth). I was at 9:44 until I finished my jog by running up State Street back to my house.  That slowed me down quite a bit. I may do a Yasso 800 workout in the next couple of weeks and just see where my actual predicted time is at, but that will have to wait a week or two.  

Same idea as yesterday.  Average pace (9:29) was a bit quicker but not because I was trying to make it so. Different route for the first half, which was nice. 

I've been in a funk this week.  Last Saturday's run was so grueling that my motivation was shot. As a result I hardly ran at all this week.  I think part of the problem is calorie deficiency. I can't seem to get enough to eat in a day to keep on top of my calories. This is odd because I'm eating all the time. The other problem is my PF has been acting up.  It started with some mild agitation but then grew into a real issue. I think I agitated it by ramping up my miles too fast after my injury.

I set out today to try and get out of that funk. It started yesterday really, because I ate and drank a lot of calories in an effort to get past the fatigue. Today I opted for a different shoe for my jog, hoping it would make my PF pain go away.  It did.  

I have had these old Asics in my closet for a long time.  They are actually brand new but never used.  They are the typical double the drop from heel to toe type of shoe and feel a bit like jogging with a block of wood strapped to the bottom of my feet.  I couldn't feel the road at all. However, I also couldn't feel my PF and when I was done with my run, 5.58 miles in the morning, it didn't hurt at all either. The Asics are hard on the feet in other ways though.  They always rub funny on the inside of my heel, and the drop makes the mechanics of the whole thing feel very awkward. Nevertheless, I will have to use them off and on for a while I think, in order to keep training while my PF gives me issues.

After that run I decided I wanted to do more.  I felt like my general ambivalence had subsided and my passion had taken back over. I've wanted to do some Yasso 800's for a while, just so I would know where I stand with the Marathon.  I've never really done them so it was a bit of an experiment.  I thought the plan was to run the 800 then rest, while still moving, for the same period of time it took to run the 800.  Turns out I was supposed to be resting by jogging. Oh well, next time. I got 5 x 800 done in an average time of 3:36.  If that holds true, I will be able to run the marathon in 3:36:00, which would be faster than my previous time by 2 minutes.  Not a huge accomplishment but its something. Of course, I'm supposed to ramp the workout up to 10 x 800 and use that average time, so I guess I won't know for a couple more weeks. At any rate, the 3:36 is encouraging, and if I can get back after it maybe I can get that time down even further by race day.