Second Wind

Rest.

Felt really tired today.  It's been a long weekend with family in town and all the church related festivities.  I think I still had some lingering fatigue from the 10K on Saturday because the legs took forever to warm up today and didn't feel as zippy.  Meg had to drop off th pace because she has been having some groin issues, hopefully it doesn't get worse.  Temp was 84 and still a bit humid this morning.  Only about another month of this before we get 2-3 months of really great running weather leading up to the St. George and Las Vegas Marathons.

Time:  58:28  8:21/mile

NB768 367.51 NB768(new) 55.08  Saucony A2 11.9

Another set of 800s today.  This week I did 4 intervals and tried to up the pace 2-3 seconds per 800.  Started with 3 miles of warm-up and then started into the intervals.  First one felt pretty good and under control.....surprisingly.  I take these intervals one at a time and evaluate how my body feels and then decide whether or not to continue with the next one.  I think the 3 mile warm-up really helped loosen things up and made these intervals go fairly smoothly.  Here are the splits:  3:21, 3:20, 3:19, 3:19.  Eventually I will try to work these down to 3:15 each and up to 10 intervals before St. George, but increasing the reps and the pace together can add injury risk so I will probably not look to increase the pace for the next few weeks.  Finished off the run with the remaining half mile to make an even 7 for the day.

Time:  57:36  8:14/mile

NB768 367.51 NB768(new) 62.08  Saucony A2 11.9

Fairly slow recovery run today.  Slipped in a couple miles that were close to the 8:00/mile range but overall it was a good recovery run.  Felt surprisingly good considering yesterdays interval workout.  Hopefully that trend continues up to the marathon.  Actually a couple degrees cooler than usual today....82.  Hills, or should I say overpass repeats, tomorrow.

Time:  50:12  8:22/mile

NB768 373.51 NB768(new) 62.08  Saucony A2 11.9

Hill workout this morning.  The majority of my running is on the flat roads right around my house.  Every Thursday from now until the marathon on hill day.  The closest hill to my house is about a mile away and is a freeway overpass.  It's about a .75 mile round trip over and back.  We did 4 round trips and I tried to push the pace a little on the up and down hill sections.  My garmin died (forgot to turn it off yesterday) right at two miles today so Meg let me use hers so I could keep track of my pace, what a nice lady.  I think all three hill miles were right at or just under 8:00/mile.  The warm up and cool down miles were pretty slow.  Legs felt a bit tired after the workout, hope they recover by tomorrow.  That makes 197 miles for the month of July which is my second highest total ever.  My highest ever is 200 miles in February (short month) and I ended up injured for the month of March and messed up my training for Ogden.  I need to continue to be cautious and listen to my body so the same thing doesn't happen again this time around.

Time:  50:44  8:27/mile

NB768 373.51 NB768(new) 68.08  Saucony A2 11.9

Finally I do a true recovery run for once in my life.  Not much to report other than it was slow and easy and actually felt pretty good.  Meg and I have decided to switch our first 20 miler of this cycle to tomorrow instead of next week due to scheduling problems.  I don't think it should be a problem moving it up a week, and what a change for me to actually get to a 20 miler during a training cycle without being too injured to run.

Time 55:38  9:15/mile

NB768 379.51 NB768(new) 68.08  Saucony A2 11.9

Wasn't concerned with time today other than subcontiously I was shooting for sub 3 hours or 9:00/mile.  Since this is my first 20 miler since March 8 I didn't want to go out and push the pace.  This week also ends with 52 miles for me which is the most since the week ending March 8 as well.  I wanted to put in the 20, feel fairly good doing it, and not risk any injury in the process.  I think I accomplished these goals today and it feels really good.  I have never made it this far along in my marathon training without being injured and that feels good as well.  All the major muscle groups in my lets were screaming by the end and I know additional 20 milers before SGM will help with that fatigue factor a ton.  I walked about a mile after the run just to "cool down" even thought the temps were pushing 90 by the finish.

On my schedule leading up to SGM right now I have a 20 miler every other week and 17 milers on the other weeks.  That gives me the chance to get in four 20 milers before the big day, but if I get two it will be more than I have ever got in the past.  I don't know if that many 20s in such a short time is over kill or not, I will just have to pay attention to my body and listen when it says to stop.  If I can get all those 20s in I think it will yeild huge dividends on race day

Time:  2:57:24  8:52/mile

NB768 379.51 NB768(new) 88.08  Saucony A2 11.9