January 6th-12th Training

Monday: 10.1 (7:06). -15 wind chill, which is a new wind chill PR

Tuesday: 6.1 miles (7:02); 14 miles with 6400m progression and 4x400m with 400m jog. Goal was 1600m each at 5:00, 4:55, 4:50, 4:45 and to run the 400s at a quick but controlled effort.  Ended up running 19:25 with splits of 4:59, 4:54, 4:48, 4:44 and averaged 63.6 on the 400s. Temp was 18 and there was a headwind on the homestretch, so it was pretty cold.  But I felt really smooth and each mile felt just as hard as the preceding one, probably due to the fact I was warming up. It felt like I ran faster than I did on the 400s, but I think it just a result of being marathon fit right now, rather than 5k-HM fit.

Wednesday: 9.1 miles (6:41); 5.6 miles (7:17)

Thursday: 8 miles (6:53); 6.2 miles with 7xhill blasts (7:28)

Friday: 4.6 miles (6:53); 10.6 miles with attempted session of 10 miles of 1/2 mile on/off at 4:55/5:15 pace.  Really didn't feel like running this but started anyway.  It was super windy on the way down and while the pace was ok, mentally, I didn't want to run at all.  It's been a tough last couple of days.  I went from sitting on my butt all day, to standing on my feet all day, have been getting 2-3 hours less sleep a night because of work and I have some other things going on as well.  Before a marathon, you need to be mentally rested and sharp and I didn't want to slave myself through this today.  As a result of punking out, I'll add some fast miles to the end of my long run this weekend.  Anyway, I ran 5:07 average for 2.2 miles and averaged 5:17 (1.2 miles total) and 4:55 (1 mile total).

Saturday: 9.1 miles (6:42); 5.6 miles (7:05)

Sunday: 16 miles with 5 mile fast finish (5:45 average). Goal was to run sub 5:05 pace but I secretly wanted to run sub 5:00. I don't know why I said secretly because I was running by myself.  But I ended up running 6:01 average for the first 10.3, which felt really easy and then 25:12 (5:04, 5:02, 5:05, 5:03, 4:58). for the fast part.  About a mile into the fast running, I decided to be content with 5:05s and then if I felt good on LSC (1.77 miles left),  I would run a little harder since the first mile was rougher than I thought.  It was hard to get in that zone where your legs and breathing are working in harmony.  The pace felt slow on my legs but it was hard to run the pace comfortably.  The last mile became a little bit tough and in my mind I wondered how I was going to be able to run about 26.2 of these in another week.   Fast portion was 5s a mile slower than last month (time for the excuse making) but then, I had a 6mph tailwind and this time, it was a 5mph headwind.  And I also wasn't trying to defend my turf from the savvy, Connor Kamm.  And I had some motivation to finish faster last time since I was going to Jumbo and Delicious afterward.

Week Total: 105 miles. Not a bad week, I guess.  I was planning on a controlled workout on Wednesday but that's my massage day.  So I'll do something Tuesday and maybe a very light fartlek on Friday and drastically reduce the volume the rest of the days. I'll have to type-up my pre-race thoughts later in the week and may even do a half-marathon preview.  That race is tight and I think there are going to be a lot of guys in the 62s.