Of Mice and Marathons

PM: 16 miles, averaged 8:17. HR 158.

I didn't get out until about 1:00PM and I paid for it. 90+ degrees with low humidity and tolerable dew point. Kept most of it in the shade of Forbidden Drive. Tried to pick it up to a somewhat moderate pace once I hit the 8 mile turn around. I felt decent, then I would hit a small roller and die. Managed 7:50-7:35 for about 5 miles, then did some strides, which caused me to start bonking. I dragged myself up Germantown Hill (~300 over 1.2 miles) and keep going to hit 16. 

I stayed up until 1 or so, so for 13-14 hours I only had a banana. Not sure why I didn't just eat breakfast when I got up. My goal today was to just get through 15-16 miles and get a baseline. It usually doesn't take me too many long runs until I am running 20 @ 7:30 or faster, so I am not concerned about running slower than 8:00 pace.

+ Stretching and core (late)

AM: Treadmill - 4 miles.

HR monitor wasn't reading correctly; it was all over the place. I likely will stop using it again. I hate paying good money for things that are absolute crap.

PM: Trails - 8 miles. Hot. Quite a bit of climbing and working around downed trees. Pretty tired.

+ Stretching and core (late)

AM: 8.25 miles. Sloggy.

PM: 5 miles.

AM: Flourtown Tempo Loop - 11 miles, averaged 7:42 w/ 5-mile marathon effort tempo

Nasty one this morning so I just decided to keep the effort sensible and short. Felt pretty crappy given that it was 7:30 in the morning and already in the mid-70s with 90% humidity and 73 dew point. I was going to run on the treadmill (which actually works okay for me for aerobic stuff) but decided on the roads.

5-mile tempo @ 6:40 average: 6:36, 6:40, 6:40, 6:42, 6:40

If the conditions were so crappy I would be ticked, but I just wanted to get in something and move on. Cooler weather will come and I will be knocking these out for 8 miles at sub-6:30 pace and hopefully getting down to 6:15 average this fall.

2.75 mile cool down

PM: 5 miles.

+ Stretching and core (late)

AM: 6.25 miles. Pretty gross out.

PM: 7.25 miles. Nice, light rain.

Decided to skip the trail run as it would have been much more of a time comittment and I got on a pretty good writing roll.

AM: 5 miles. Did some strides.

PM: 8 miles. Beautiful weather.

+ Core and stretching (very late)

AM: Trails - 8 miles.

Right calf tightened up twice for just a few seconds. Felt fine otherwise. This is something new, but I am hoping it was just a cramp. I'll keep an eye on it.

PM: 4 miles with Megan. Did just a couple short, but fast strides in the parking lot to loosen up and test my calf. Felt fine.

I think this is my second highest week ever, though I've had numerous weeks in the low 90s (averaged 91 miles for 10 weeks or so fall 2013). I'm not sure I'll continue with numbers just under 100, but I'll try to keep the weeks just at or just below 90 as has been my practice for the last two marathons. We will see how I feel, how workouts go, and what the schedule allows. Doubling 6 days instead of 4-5 makes quite a difference.