Probably not going to run tonight (although always reserve the right to change my mind), but felt the need to put some thoughts down. As pleased as I am with a 72:33 PR, I'm frustrated that I got so close to BQ but couldn't close the deal. So I'm reviewing things in my mind that might have made a difference. * More peak mileage. Yeah, that could have done it. But I already added 20 miles a week to the original plan, and 45 miles a week to the plan I used for Little Rock, and there just wasn't a whole time of time left in the week to add more miles. Yeah, I could have converted 10-mile midweek runs into 12-milers and gotten over 80 that way. But I might also have gotten hurt that way. Ditto adding more miles to my back-off weeks. I definitely feel that there were a couple of times in the last 24 weeks when my body said it had had enough and I was right on the brink of injury, or at least overtraining syndrome, before I backed off. I think that the way I handled the weekend long runs, with six over 18 miles and three of 20 or more, worked well for me, and I would be reluctant to change that. * More crosstraining. This one makes sense to me. My weak link on Saturday was the quads and hip flexors, more so than the twitching gastroc. If I'd done more lower body weight work, the muscles might have been better able to withstand the strain of 8:00 miles even without more mileage. * Longer period at high mileage. Instead of two weeks of 70-plus, maybe four or five, without taking the peak up over 75. This is kinda how I read what Sasha suggested I do -- carry a high base. Basically, get my base built up to this level and then maintain more of it for a longer period. And this method would not put any more time pressure on me than what I did this time. To do that optimally, IMO, I'd need to start my program, whether I do an 18-week or whatever, at a higher MPW than I did this time. * Change my taper? Nah, don't think so. I think I needed three weeks to get ready to perform, and it also gave me time to get the hamstring issue resolved so that it didn't bother me at all on Saturday. I don't think I lost any fitness during the taper for sure. * Maybe the thing that got me was just a bad break -- that I was dead into the wind at my most vulnerable time of the race. Not sure about that. I'm sure the wind slowed me some, but not 30-plus seconds a mile over the period I was running upwind, which is what I would have needed to hit BQ. Maybe on a calm day I break 3:32, but that's still not BQ. * One more thing. The one aspect of Pfitz' plan I had the most problem with is his recommended approach to the long runs -- the progression to MP + 10%. I didn't have any trouble carrying MP + 20%, but that late acceleration below 9:00 didn't always happen. Maybe this part is the real key -- teach myself to run at that kind of speed with tired legs. Ditto the Friday-Saturday combo, to start every LR with tired legs, but I feel like doing a better job of getting to MP + 10% might have been what could have pushed me over the edge. I carried my speed for 20-21 miles, but I couldn't carry it for 26. I'm happy with how I did the speed work, happy with the fact that I got through a very challenging program without getting hurt, and obviously happy with a 72-minute PR. I don't need major changes. I need tweaks. I need three minutes. Seven seconds a mile. That'll get me to Hopkinton. | 