sub-3 or blow-up trying

Great Mother's Day!  5 of the children performed in church...one didn't sing (very cute), 2 others were part of duet.  Took mom out for Mexican food and the girls presented a variety of gifts/cards.  Everyone came home and hit the sack, so I slipped out for a run.  Ran 4 miles down to a 5k trail run.  Felt good so decided to see what I could do...ran 5k in 19:28 (6:17 pace)...rested 3 minutes and drank water, then decided to see if I could run it again at MP...not quite...did it a second time in 21:32 (6:57 pace).  There's a killer hill right in the middle that kicked my butt the second time through.  My hope it to be able to run it a second time through by the end of summer under 19:30.  Ran a shorter route home- 3 miles, for 13.2 miles total. 

AM:  Ran to Whitewoods and did the 5k course in 19:49 (6:24 pace), then rested for 3 minutes and ran a MP mile (6:36 pace).  Jogged there and back for a total of 6.6 miles.  My leg turnover needs major improvement for next Fall.  Summer should give me adequate time to build up speed.  Feel like I'm getting my legs back.  May run in the evening if I get the opportunity.

PM:  5 miles on the TM...1mile warm-up, 2 miles threshold (6:10 pace), 1 mile jog, last mile threshold (6:10 pace).

Noon:  Ran with Rick through Whites Woods trail at a recovery pace for 4.5 miles.  Spent 20 minutes doing upper body weights.

PM:  1-mile warm-up.  Felt pretty good, so decided to run the first 6 miles of the Litchfield Road Race.  Kept a fairly good clip and completed 6 miles in 39:44 (6:37 pace).  Jogged 1 extra mile as a cool down.  8 miles total.

Lunch break:  Felt a little sore after 4 straight days of solid running.  Began with a nice recovery type pace on a trail into the woods.  By the end of 2 miles, began feeling fairly good.  Decided to veer over to the 5k course and do a mp run.  Ran the course in 19:51 (6:24 pace), so will categorize them as threshold pace miles.  Jogged 2.25 back to the gym and did 20-minutes leg work w/weights.  The trails have added a great mix to my training.  Hard runs w/hills are far less tough on my feet than pavement.  It has allowed me to begin picking up mileage without much additional stress.  Also, I'm starting to feel much more comfortable with lightweight shoes, having mixed them into my training more often.  I have meetings this evening, so later run will depend upon how long they last...

PM:  Ran 6.4 on the TM.  1 mile warm-up, 2 mp miles (6:35 pace), 1 slow mile, 2 threshold miles (6:22 pace), and .4 mile cooldown. 

Didn't have a chance to run until 11pm this evening.  Headed down to the basement for a TM workout.  Legs were stiff from free weight squats yesterday.  Began by progressively working my way down to mp by the end of mile 3...held at mp for 5 miles (6:39)...did 1 final mile as a cooldown- 9 miles total.  Felt like I could have run forever, but don't want to overdo things this week. 

I can feel myself getting faster and gaining strength every single day.  After almost a year of +50 mile weeks, my body seems to have finally learned to handle higher mileage.  Could never quite get there before Boston.  Can't wait to begin "speedwork" next week. 

Dropped down a 20-miler today.  Not all that impressive time-wise.  Kept around an 8:30 pace for most of the run.  Started on the street through hills, then stopped to drink a 32-ounce gatorade planted at mile 12.  Ran the next 7.5 miles in the woods- more forgiving on the feet and about 10 degrees cooler (it was mid to high 70's today).  Finished the final .5 on the road to get back to the gym.

Also did 25 minutes of upperbody weights. 

rest...really wanted to run today.  Had a solid week of running and feel good, but felt it would be wise not to increase too much, too soon.  Will use today's rest towards another solid week.