April 23rd-29th Training

Monday: 8 miles (6:44); 6.1 miles with a few pick-ups (7:05)
 
Tuesday: 10.5 miles with 4 mile fast progression on the ghetto White House track in 20:19 (5:15,5:08,5:03,4:53)and then 2x400m in 64,63.  I felt a little big sluggish in the beginning for felt much better the second half. The fourth mile didn't feel much harder than the first.  I struggled a bit on the 400s, but the track has super tight turns, which made things a bit more difficult.; 7.4 miles very easy
 
Wednesday: 8 miles (6:55); 6.1 miles very easy
 
Thursday: 8 miles with 8x30s strides a little faster than 5k pace; 6 miles very easy
 
Friday: 6.1 miles (7:12)

Saturday: 15.6 miles with Derby Louisville HM in 64:39, to finish in seventh. I was really pumped with this race. My goal was 66:00 and 65:30, best case scenario. I got out with a pack of about a dozen guys and we stayed together for the first couple of miles. The pack would randomly speed up and then I'd catch them a short time later. Shortly before six, they left me for good. I ran the next couple of miles alone, caught a couple of guys and in the 10th mile, I could see another couple of guys over a minute ahead. At 10 miles, I knew I had a shot at sub 65:00, so I tried to stay focused and slowly chase the guy ahead of me. I was slowly catching him but ran out of room and finished 17s behind. I was really happy because this would have been an Oly Trial qualifier in the fall, but it was also bittersweet because I was in better shape then. I actually felt really good at the end and was scared of running 5:00 early on, so I held back a little. I haven't gotten in any really hard workouts yet and ran 68:34 on a flat course six weeks ago, so I feel I still have a lot of room to improve. Splits: 5:00, 4:57, 4:53, 4:53, 4:53, 4:52, 4:42, 5:08, 5:07, 4:58, 4:58, 4:58, 5:19 (1.1)
Sun: 4.4 miles (7:17); 8.4 miles (7:15)

Sunday: 4.5 miles (7:16); 8.4 miles (7:15)

Week Total= 94.6 miles.  This week was a little bit lower because I decided to back off a bit because the half-marathon was my "key" race before the National Championships in June. My time also earned me an extra $200 travel money, so that will help out for sure. I'll probably have to use the first half of the week to get my legs back and with no big races for the next month, I can start going into hardcore training mode.