sub-3 or blow-up trying

Raining out- 6 miles on the TM.

Today is big workout #2 day.  I threw down a quick base right before supper of 7.5 miles before gettting a few mp miles and a track workout.  These "big workouts" will get progressively larger over the next few months.  My hope is to do 2 "b.w.'s" per week leading into my next marathon.  My goal for a Fall marathon is to break my pr by 10 minutes (3:06:59 to 2:56:59).  It's going to take discipline, consistency, good health, and a decent day of weather.  I'm definitely due for a good marathon day and I have a very strong base to be patient in my upcoming training.  Off to dinner!

Ate a quick dinner and within 20 minutes eating I was outdoor to beat darkness. 1st three miles were tempo (6:44,6:40,6:26) and then jogged a mile before making it to the track. The plan was to run 400's on the track, but a h.s. meet was still going on (almost 6:30p.m.). Kind of bummed but decided to switch to fartleks- track is way more comfortable, but this would toughen me up. Did 8 x 400 @ anywhere from 5:15-6:15 pace (depending on uphill or downhill). Finished up with slow jog back home- 9 miles total.

5 miles on the TM @ the gym + 15 minutes weights. 

4 more miles on TM @ home. 

Ran 5.75 miles @ 7:45 pace- 2/3 of it was on trails. 

8 miles with my wife @ just over 9min pace- 6 of them on trails. 

I'm recording this before doing the second half of my ran.  Ran a 7-mile course with my 12 and 13-year-old.  My 12-year-old has been beating my older daughter in track and field, yet this was a chance for my older one to show her there's a difference between speed and endurance.  Mile 5 my younger daughter began to "crash", so I handed my garmin to the older one and started running back and forth to keep them both within my sight.  Part way through mile 6 I caught up with the older one and saw that if she could maintain an 8-minute pace she would break an hour for 7-miles- she ended up running pretty fast and ran 7 in 59:41- a personal record by 1 minute and 20 second.  My 12-year-old made it to the end by 1:02:00 and I estimate I ran a total of 7.25 (+ .5 mile cooldown).  I'm recorded this quickly to get back out on the road with my wife and then attempt a little bit of track work.  Big day #3...got back out quickly, ran 1.25 with my wife and then broke into a 4-mile tempo (6:36,6:27,6:32,6:24)- I'd love to call them marathon pace miles, but at this stage they are still threshold, especially being miles 10-13.  Jogged another mile to the track and then did 4x400 on tired legs (81,80,81,76)...I was encouraged by how well I held myself together, especially on a windy track (20-30mph).  Jogged the last two home to finish off 18 miles for the day.  Felt good!