Of Mice and Marathons

Off.

We had a graduation party in the Toledo area. I was due for a day off I suppose. Need to look at when the last day off was.

AM: 7.5 miles, averaged 8:44. HR 149.

Felt pretty good despite the cottonwoods coming out. Add those to the seasonal allergies, which are still driving me nuts.

PM: 4 hours 6'. 173W. HR 145.

25'-20'-8' 

Way too ambitious in the heat. I had down 25'-20'-15'-10'-5', but I started dropping power as I progressed and knew it wasn't going to work. Realistically, I should have added a shorter interval rather than doing the same workout as a few weeks ago, but beginning with 25' effort. Alternatively, I could have do 2 x 20' at a slightly higher effort than the 25' and the 20'. I was grunting pretty hard on the last one, so I just called it and got my four hours in. 

25' @ 295W @ 170 BPM

20' @ 286W @ 174 BPM

8' @ 288W @ 175 BPM

Probably could have focused a bit more on HR than power for this one. The 170s aren't too bad, but I just felt I couldn't force it. 

AM: 8.3 miles, averaged 9:40. HR 154.

Blown workout. Scheduled to do 20' + 15' steady, but it was getting hot early and the air quality is bad. HR started to creep and I just didn't want to run that hard for what was going to be a slower pace. Was looking for about 7' pace for the 20' and 6:50 for the 15'. Pulled it at 12', the pace of which was 7:31 @ 171 BPM. Had I continued at that effort it would likely have been in the mid 170s, which just isn't the right effort for the workork. Jogged out my remaining time. I haven't been that sweaty after a run in quite some time, certainly not this year.

I will likley skip Thursday Night Dirt this week and ride easy and shorter inside as I am trying to limit my sun exposure a bit. Need an easier day and really a recovery week, which I had origionally scheduled, but that will likley start this weekend and into next week, especially if I race in two weeks (the bike, not the running shoes kind).

PM: 2 hours 14'. 154W. HR 135.

Testing out some Maurten 320. It's a lot of carbs in 16 oz. Think it is the ticket for bike racing. Easier than getting in gels, but I will take those too. Signed up for the Cow Pie Classic long haul course. This will be my first race since breaking my elbow in August. 

AM/Lunch: 7 miles, averaged 10:07. HR 141.

Respected the heat and air quality and won out. Tried a few new roads.

Off.

Started to feel off this day. Anxiety increased. Just kind of comes out of nowhere. The next 4-5 days were pretty rough, with one day being absolutely brutal.