Getting back to Boston

I kinda don't believe what I did tonight. See, I'd been having a little crisis of faith, starting to doubt myself in the running sense (the other kind of crisis of faith happened years ago and I stil haven't resolved that one satisfactorily). I wasn't sure I could get my BQ, and I definitely wasn't sure I could complete this weekend's scheduled long run -- a 20-miler with 14 at GMP. I let myself postpone it from Saturday, using the excuse that I had to be in Hot Springs early for Shannon's wedding (which was true but immaterial). Then I let myself go back to bed this morning rather than getting up to do the 20 (I did need the sleep, but I could have taken a nice long nap after the run). Then I almost had myself talked out of it completely this afternoon -- my toe hurt, blah blah. Finally, at 6, I roused myself and went over to the fitness room. If the toe hurt too much to run, I would be right here instead of having to limp miles home from somewhere on the RT.

So I set out on the three-mile warmup. So far, so good; toe's not a major issue. It's pretty warm  in the fitness room, as it was outdoors, but the ceiling fan helped, I had plenty of water and even some HEED, and I soon got rid of my shirt. So at the three-mile mark, I cranked the TM up to GMP -- 7.9 mph, or 7:35 pace, and settled in. Soon became obvious that the legs would be fine at that pace, but the warmth continued to be an issue. Drained my fluid supply quickly and had to stop twice to go get some more, but I maintained 7:35 for about 105 minutes -- which means I ran a half-marathon on the TM about five minutes faster than I did at Hogeye three weeks ago. Then I jogged in the last  three miles. And the toe never was a big issue, although there was some discomfort throughout.

Rest of the week's kind of a backoff, especially after a 14 in Tuesday, and a mini-taper for Toad Suck. After that, four weeks to blastoff. 

Interval time tonight: 5 X 600 at VO2 max pace (about 6:30 for me), dropped into a 9-miler. Handled them pretty well considering the 20-miler with 14 @ GMP last night, I thought. As tired as my legs are, and as ready as I am for this cycle to end, I'm starting to round into racing shape. Surely all this work will get me what I want, especially since I had the good sense to pass on OKC, which would have been a disaster -- 75 degrees, high humidity and 30-mph winds. I'm getting enough work at high temperatures as it is, so if I get a typical Oregon morning in a month, it should feel positively energizing. And if it's a little warmer than that, well, I should be pretty well acclimated.

Last night was a good confidence boost, but if I can rip about five minutes off my 10K PR at Conway on Saturday, that would really send me into the last four weeks of training on an emotional high.

DW and I had a little heart-to-heart over the weekend and I think we understand each other better. She understands that when she gives me crap about running too much and being too skinny, that I tend to view it as sabotage, undermining my work toward my goal. I, in turn, understand better that there hasn't been enough of me available to the family after work and running, and that DW really does support me and wants to see me at the line in Hopkinton next April too.

Postponed the planned 14-miler tonight since I had to wait for the teenager to get home from his class sushi party (?) because I needed to talk to him before I ran. That wasn't until 8 p.m., so too late for 14. Just as well; the legs needed a break after what amounted to three hard days in a row (fast 10, 20 with 14 at MP, VO2 max intervals). Even a slow 8 on the dreadmill was a bit of a struggle. I think I'll take it easy pace-wise tomorrow when I do the 14, which will put me over 300 miles for the month again.

Fourteen tonight in the rain at 9:30 pace. Rain didn't bother me much when it was just drizzling, but as it came down harder, it became an annoyance. I could feet my feet sliding on the wet pavement and there were too many puddles to dodge. I therefore decided to slow down a bit just to try to avoid slipping and falling -- or slipping and injuring myself, even worse. I think I came through it OK.

Now over 300 miles for April. Won't get near 300 in May what with the taper, but that's two consecutive 300-mile months. I'll be over 1100 for the year by week's end.

Capped off the month with 71 minutes on the dreadmill at recovery pace. Ended up with 7.65, which took me to 309 for the month. Thought about going longer (or faster) but decided to take it easy with an eye toward Toad Suck. Tomorrow, 4, maybe even 3, reaaaalllllyyyy sllloooowwww.

Starting off the new month low and slow -- three miles at almost 10:00 pace. Just work the kinks out, then some stretching, then early rack time before the 10K in Conway.

This 10K is darn important to me. No, a big PR tomorrow doesn't mean a darn thing when I stand at the line in Newport in four weeks (four weeks! wow!). But I need to know that I can translate all this training into something productive on race day. I had hoped that Hogeye would provide that afffirmation, but it didn't. Maybe I expected too much that day on a very hilly course. But I really feel like I need something in the 43s to validate what I've been doing, to convince me that I haven't been just training for training's sake. And tomorrow is my last chance to do that.

I needed a good run today in Conway to boost my confidence with a marathon in four weeks. I got one. I didn't run as fast as I had hoped, but I got a nice PR by 3:42. That in spite of running through a thunderstorm with extremely heavy rain and plenty of puddles to splash through. I started out too conservatively, due in part to tight hammies, as well as the failure of my Garmin to fully charge up this week; it quit on me on the drive up there. So I was flying a bit blind on pacing. My pacing was not too far off, just a little slower than I had hoped. I think the rain and lightning were bigger issues, at least psychologically. But by halfway, the hammies were loose and there was a downhill and I was ready to let it out. I'm prettty sure it was a negative split; the timer at 3 miles called 22:35 or something, so I ran the last 3.22 in around 23:19. Could I have run faster? Yeah, the first half was too conservative. But I got what I wanted -- a good time going into Newport.