Winning Back What I Lost

6AM: General aerobic + speed on TM: 8+ miles w/ 10x100m strides @ 6:48/mi pace. First run w/ my new Tangent 4's. I like the fit better than the Tangent 3's. A little bit wider than the Tangent 3's but still snug. If they're like their predecessor, they'll expand/widen after a few miles.   

550AM: General aerobic run; I was supposed to do 12M this morning but there just wasn't enough time; I need to get up earlier to get in these long mid-week runs but 530AM wakeup is probably my limit until the day I start getting to bed a lot earlier; I wasn't feeling it at all this morning; I don't know if its the antibiotic I'm on or all of the hydrocodone or if I'm just sick but I have this constant feeling of nausea; the good news is that my tooth is no longer bothering me; I guess I traded it in for something else; that's kind of how my training goes, if its not one nagging problem its another; I'm going to try to get a couple of miles in tonight to meet my goal for the day.

830PM: 2.6M on the TM to meet my daily mileage goal; did some light core work as well.

Easy recovery run on the TM.  Started slow and ended at current MP. 

Read about the new qualifying standards for Boston today. Looks like they'll be lowering the qualifying times for each age group by 5 mins beginning in 2013 and allowing faster runners to register first beginning in 2012. At first I was a little disappointed but then it kind of motivated me to do better than "just" 3:15 this year. Why not shoot for my best possible marathon? Why not decide to train harder and become as fit as possible so I can take advantage of the new system rather than fall victim to it? 

9:30PM, Denver, CO: Went from work to the airport.  By the time I got my rental and drove into the city it was past 9 o'clock. Being late and downtown I didn't want to run outside.  Immediately headed to the TM to get in my scheduled general aerobic run. TM was athletic club quality, a nice change from some the POS's I normally have to run on when travelling. FWIW, I didn't notice any difference in the higher altitude.  Also, the full length mirror gave me an excellent view of my form and it always surprises me just how little extensioin and push-off I get from my back leg. I've known from the many race photos that have captured my shuffle/form but its always shocking to see it in live action. 

Back home. Short recovery run outside on a cool but not cold evening.  Long run (17 mi) tomorrow that has me a bit nervous. The plan is to run 2/3 of it at current MP. It will be an interesting test to see where I'm at in my training.

Long run on the GB from Glenwood Bridge to WS Golf Course and back. 4m warmup; 8m @ marathon pace (8:00/mi); 4m cool. I was worried that I'd get rained/snowed on so I came prepared for everything. The precip didn't materialize until the last half hour which meant that I was a bit overdressed and overheated.  I'm so ready for t-shirt and shorts weather. I sorta cheated a bit on the tempo, taking a short break halfway thru to get a drink and a couple of bites of my powerbar. Otherwise, it went pretty well.