All it takes is all you've got

Slept 10 hours last night.  Heavenly.

8 miles in 7:43 pace

Nice and easy recovery run with no strides today.  Legs felt pretty tired still, but surprisingly not too hashed.  My left quad seems to be the most fatigued spot.  But I'm happy about the fact that my achilles is not any worse off than it was last week. 

Met my training group at Fairview Track.  

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

6X1200 Meter repeats on the track in 4:28, 4:29, 4:27, 4:24, 4:11, 4:05 (5:20-5:48 pace) 

Coach had me start out conservatively since I just raced Saturday, but by the end we sped up a bit.  Legs felt pretty good!  My left quad still has some lingering fatigue, but other than that I'm really pleased with how quickly my body seems to be recovering.

I did a 20 minute cool down with a woman who is in town visiting and getting some altitude training in.  Her name is Morena (sp?).  She is a pro steeplechaser from Holland who is branching out and trying the marathon this Fall.  It was nice to meet her and chat about the steeplechase (one of my true loves). 

10:30 A.M. 5 miles in 7:40 pace

Took my 4yo to the dentist this morning and found out she has four cavities.  Great.  Guess we better get bushing and flossing better.

4:30 P.M. 4 miles in 7:30 pace

Went to the gym for some more running, as well as some dynamic stretching and weight lifting.  I've been slacking on weight lifting lately.  It felt great to get some in though.  I'm going to go again on Friday and get back on track with twice a week.  I so important for me to keep my anaerobic strength up.  Helps me feel a lot stronger when I'm running.

15 miles in 7:18 pace

Threw in a couple of MP miles (mile 7 in 5:57 and mile 9 in 6:02).  When I met with my coach a few weeks ago he mentioned doing 2X15 minutes at MP on my long runs.  I thought about that this morning and asked myself why I haven't been doing that yet?  I guess I just haven't felt up for it.  I'm going to start trying to ease into that though.  I think its good to train my body to run MP on a long run. 

Tired

Met my team at Tom Watson Park

Warmed up 20 minutes, stretching, strides

My right shin seemed to have some sort of muscle spasm about 15 minutes into my warm up.  I stretched it really well and pushed on it with my thumbs during stretching and it finally relaxed after the strides. 

Workout was 15 minutes at marathon effort (I did 5:59 pace).  Pretty flat, but had some loose gravel and spectator dodging in the last mile.  We ran off the road through some gravel and uneven terrain to avoid a women's triathlon race that was just finishing near the boat ramp for Boulder Res.  The winner finished just as we ran past.  Looked fun.

4 minute jog

12 minutes a half marathon effort (5:55 pace) with some good rolling hills. 

3 minute jog

8 minutes at 10k effort (5:50 pace) up a good long hill and then flat.

2 minute jog

5 minutes hard (5:35 pace) back down the hill and then up another hill.

10 minute cool down

The workout actually didn't feel as hard as I expected it to.  I was super tired yesterday and took it really easy, so I guess that helped to rest my body and get me ready for today.  

I ran with Coach on our cool down and discussed my strategy for the New Haven 20K.  I'm getting excited and a little nervous to race the elites in 9 days!