December 24th-30th

Monday: 5.1 miles (7:16); 9.1 miles (7:07)

Tuesday: 9.5 miles (6:44); 6.6 miles with 6xhill blast (7:23)

Wednesday: 14.2 miles (6:01) fartlek with 10 miles of 3:00 fast/3:00 moderate (5:34).  Was planning on a progression run but there were 20-25 mph winds, so I felt a fartlek would be a better workout.  Was planning on running the fast portion sub 5:00 pace but it was just way too windy.  Took my time working into it and didn't feel smooth until 5-6 miles.  Ran around 5:10/6:00 average, wish was slower than I wanted but it was hard to get moving.; 5.5 miles (7:30)

Thursday: 11 miles (6:50); 4 miles (7:10ish)

Friday:  6 miles (6:55); 6 miles with four strides (7:15ish)

Saturday: 10.7 miles with 5k race (14:55). Frustrated because I was expecting to break 14:30.  Legs just wouldn't turn over quickly and it felt like I was sprinting.  The course has a lot of rhythm changes and the road was wet, so it was hard to find my groove.  Probably just a little worn out from the heavy training and if you can run a good 5k two weeks out from your marathon, you're going to be in trouble during your marathon.  Splits were 4:48, 4:49, 4:49; 4.3 miles (7:12)

Sunday: 22 miles (6:12).  Really good run and was really relaxed and easy.  I was in SC and was going to run to the forest, do two loops and head home with a goal of 20-22 miles. I used to love the forest but it was really annoying today. Way too many turns and rhythm changes, which made this marathon metronome man, mentally worn out.  I decided to do just one loop and was surprsied my watch said it was 5.95 miles because I always thought it was 6.5-7.  My GPS usually measures short on trails, so maybe it was a little bit longer.  I then decided to branch out and run my old school high school routes to reminisce about the old glory days.  I was running 6:00ish the last half and it felt like I was just jogging.

Week Total=115 miles.  OK volume I guess, with a good long run, but my race was crappy and my workout was kind of eh.  With two weeks left, I'll start to back off and run around 100 miles this upcoming week with a couple of hardish workouts and a shortened long run.  Iron looked ok but I was surprised that I got it drawn an hour before it closed on Christmas Eve and had the results in my email before lunch on Christmas Day.