October 21st-October 27th

Monday:  8 miles (6:30); 10.6 miles (7:07)

Tuesday: 8.5 miles (6:32); 7.5 miles (7:05)

Wednesday: 4.6 miles (6:42); 11.8 miles (6:27).  I was planning on running my first marathon-specific workout, which was 3x4.6 miles, with a 1k steady recovery jog up a slight hill.  It was my 3.96 mile loop, with an extra run down Bison Way, which resulted in about 150 ft. of uphill and 215 ft. of downhill, which is somewhat similar to CIM.  But I decided I'll probably skip CIM and just ran after doing a pre-workout warm-up.

Thursday: 11.8 miles with 10x2:00 on/1:00 off.  Ran 5:15 pace for the 30 minutes, with a "fast" average of about 4:35.  Slight wind but felt pretty good.  I ran hard and pushed the last two, which resulted in a good bit of oxygen debt; 6.8 miles (7:02) 

Friday: 9 miles (6:50); 6.2 miles with 6xstride (7:16)

Saturday: 11 miles with 10k road race in 31:28.  Jumped in a local, low-key race.  My plan was to lock into 4:55ish pace and use it as a tempo.  However, the miles weren't marked and I turned off my auto-lap on my GPS.  On my second custom screen, I had my average lap pace showing and a little over a mile in, it was at 4:57, then over the next few miles, worked up to 4:59, before falling back down to 4:56. I crossed the line in 31:28, with a GPS measurement of 6.38, which meant it was probably a little long, since there wasn't many turns at all and 10ks usually measure about 6.3 on my watch.  But despite that, I didn't feel smooth at all.  I was probably a little flat from Thursday's session (normally need two easy days after a hard workout) and after about three miles, I thought I was going to have to slow down a lot but was able to speed up, without much effort.  Guess I have some decent endurance but don't have my wheels yet;  6.3 miles (7:17)

Sunday: 20.2 miles (6:04). Longest day ever.  My dog got fleas a while ago from my wife's grandma's house (stupid stray cats) so I unleased flea warfare.  In the past, I've used Borax but they were out, so I got some diatomaceous earth instead, since it works in the same fashion.  Big mistake since the stuff was just like chalk and I ended up spreading five pounds of it around the house and swept it deep into the carpet all over the house.  It not only was impossible to vacuum, but got EVERYWHERE.  The entire house was coated in a fine layer of the crap.  I ended up vacuuming for about three hours before the run, rented a Big Green Machine from Lowe's and used that for three hours before doing the long run.  I got rolling pretty quickly on the long run and normally run my first section in 6:20 something pace but was at 6:12.  Shortly after midway, my upper hamstrings and glutes were really tired, my neck hurt but aerobically, I felt really smooth.  I ended up running in the low 5:50s the last few miles, only to spend another three hours steam cleaning the carpets.

Week Total: 122.3 miles. I was planning on hitting in the upper 120s but the change of marathon plans curtailed that.  But got in a good speed workout, had a flat tempo run and came back the next day with a strong long run.  This next week I'll probably make my Wednesday workout a little easier than planned since I had three quality sessions in four days and I also have to be ready for this weekend.  I'm taking on rabbiting duties for 20 miles of the Indy Monumental Marathon on Sunday.  I have to run 5:15 pace and need to be within 30s of 68:49 at 13.1 and 1:45 at 20 if I want to collect my bounty.  If the race isn't deep and I'm in a position where I can jog the last 10k at 6:00+ pace and get some money, I may finish the distance if I'm feeling really good (really good, not just good).