November 25th-December 1st Training

Monday: 10.2 miles (6:30); 6.4 miles (7:17)

Tuesday: 5.9 miles (6:40ish); 11.2 miles with 6xhill blasts(7:07)

Wednesday: 9.5 miles (6:53); 5.4 miles (7:30)

Thursday: 11.6 miles with 5 mile race in 23:41.  19 degrees at the start and was super cold the whole way.  Ran solo from the gun with balanced splits of 4:53, 4:48, 4:43, 4:45, 4:31.  Solid effort and felt like I could have thrown down another 4:45 to run 29:30 for 10k. Getting my speed back; 6.8 miles (7:21)

Friday: 5.4 miles (7:08); 10.9 miles (6:58)

Saturday: 10.6 miles (7:20ish). Ran off-road for the first time in a very long time.  I wasn't a fan and it's back to the concrete/asphalt for me; 5.5 miles (7:17)

Sunday: 18.8 miles with 4x5k with 1k faster jog in between.  Goal was to run around 5:05 pace and ended up running 16:13 (3.2 miles), 3:34, 15:48, 3:38, 15:52, 3:43, 15:44.  Had a bit of trouble at first because while I programmed the workout into my watch, I forgot to hit "do workout".  So it didn't alert me when I hit 5k and I went a little further before figuring out I ran too far, so I had to stop and program it again Other than that, the effort was much easier than expected.  I was feeling really mentally lazy and didn't feel like running.  Normally when I run my marathon workouts, I'm very mentally dialed in and am focused on the effort and pace.  If I get too slow, I immediately try to get back on pace.  Today, I just ran and didn't particularly care. Being able to hit my times while not really focusing is a good sign that I'm getting really fit. The pace was really relaxed on my legs and I never had to force anything.  Great first marathon interval session; 3 miles (7:22)

Week Total=121.2 miles. Good overall week.  I was debating doing a fast finish long run on Sunday, instead of the intervals because I wasn't sure if I'd be recovered enough from the race Thursday but I stuck with it.  Next week will be some heavy volume without too much intensity since I've been getting in a lot of quality lately and don't want to overdue it.

This weekend is also CIM, which was my original plan. It'll be bittersweet seeing results, but I hope my friends racing it do well.  From the Nashville area, Jackson Miller (shooting for 2:40), Scott Bennett and Jeanette Faber are racing along with my Saucony buddy, Jake Krong (shooting for 2:20) and Brock Baker. So, good luck to them!