Of Mice and Marathons

Flourtown Tempo Loop - 16 miles, averaged 7:04

Big Workout. 3 x 2.5 mile LT repeats with 3:30 recovery jogs

4 mile warm up plus strides and light stretching

Repeat 1 in 14:47; 5:55 average. 3:37 recovery jog at 8:26 pace

Repeat 2 in 14:41; 5:53 average. 3:36 recovery jog at 8:11 pace

Repeat 3 in 14:53; 5:57 average

3.6 cool down

Good workout for me today. I usually do 4 x 2 miles with 3:30 recovery jogs just before a half but I wanted a little more pain (even though the overall quality volume is a whisker less). I've done this one once before: fall 2013 2 days before I couldn't walk, so I never got to see how it translated in a half.

I put my pace on and monitored it. I figured 6:05-6:00 would be good. I was glad to get everything under 6:00. Legs are better, but still dead and my left glute was locking a bit (as it sometimes does). Had a little bit of wind to contend with but it wasn't terrible just annoying.

Lunch: 7.5 miles easy

PM: Treadmill - 5 miles

AM: Off

PM: 10.25 miles. Did some strides. Cold and windy. Started making dinner and I heard thunder.

Late: Stretching and rolling

AM: Flourtown Tempo Loop - 10 miles, averaged 7:32. Stretching and core.

Sharpening Workout of 5 x 1000+ with 2:00 recovery jogs

Warmed up a little over 3 and went straight into the workout. There was a bit of construction so I played nice and jumped on the sidewalk in places. Goal was to get down to low 17-minute 5k pace or under. Couldn't quite get there today but I got a little bit of faster work in. Probably ran too hard given the effort output and could have lengthened the rests just to get the pace in. Plan is to taper a bit. Yep, tapering for a 5k.

Averaged 5:42 pace for the 1000s. Jogs were 9-9:30

AM: 6.25 miles easy.

PM: 4 miles. Core and stretching that I didn'y end up doing earlier.

Feeling very run down. Not just training tired. Likely stress, but I'm going to mark it here in case I need to refer to it in the future.

AM: 4 miles. Did a few strides. Core and stretching at the gym after.

Looks like tomorrow will be warm and windy (it's been warm the last two days here). 20 MPH winds. Hoping it's a tailwind, but I can't get a map even though the course is supposedly certified. Plan is to run as hard as I can and go for the win. It's at the zoo, so maybe first place gets a monkey.

AM: Philly Rabbit 5k in 17:26 (short course).

What a cluster of a race. Just terribly organized. Megan and I got there are around 7:20 and there was a line of at least 100 people. I had her hold our place and warmed up a bit but I was nervous they would start without everyone getting bibs. I didn't get a sufficient warmup. Only 2 miles. Got my bib just before 8:00 when the race was supposed to start. They extended the start time so I changed into my flats and continued to warm up and do some strides. The organizers kept saying they were going to start soon but it kept not starting, so I stood around for a while.

At 8:29 we got going. I started out behind a young guy who knew the course from the previous year. I stayed behind him. There were a lot of winding turns and short, sharp downhills that didn't feel great after standing around. I took the lead around three quarters of a mile and kept the lead. I kept the guy off and always felt like I had several more gears but just couldn't get the legs to move. The wind was pretty unpleasant, blowing around 20-25 MPH. Toward the end of the race I had another guy not far from me but I held him off and kicked it in. The results show a 1 second win, but this couldn't be correct. 

Time was irrelevant today. Last Sunday I ran 3 x 2.5 miles at only 3-4 seconds slower (with a bit too much wine over the weekend) than this 5k today, so I am not upset about it. Need to find a decent 5k I can compete in and run fast. I'm also going to have to do a few weeks of mile-5k stuff this summer to be respectable at Beach to Beacon.

Only cooled down 2 miles. No great place to do it. I did manage to get a $75 gift card, which I appreciated even though it was $15 to park and $15 for Megan to get into the zoo. Megan and I walked around after, which was great but very windy.

PM: Treadmill - 7 miles. Kept my compression socks on, mostly to embarrass Megan