June 8th-14th Training

Monday: 6.2 miles (7:08); .60 miles (8:28); 8 miles (7:02)

Tuesday: 7.3 miles.  I was going to do some tempo miles at the track but after getting there, the football team was out doing stuff.  I didn't feel like dealing with that, so I drove to the pavement track by my house.  Since I was in the car for nearly 30 minutes, I did a second warmup since my legs were tight and was going to try the workout on the pavement track, but my legs felt like crap and the first lane was flooded...do over tomorrow; Skipped run (didn't have time)

Wednesday: 6 miles. I was going to do yesterday's workout as 10x3:00 on/1:00 off, but man, it was insanely hot...do over tonight; 8.9 miles with 4x1600m with 60s rest. Goal was six at tempo effort.  I threw in the rest to make it a little bit easier so I could get a feel for half-marathon effort/pace with reduced intensity and hopefully become a little more efficient at it since it's probably too late to build "real"fitness before next weekend.  Ran 4:56, 4:52, 4:51, 4:54 and it was super easy, which was motivating because the dew point was 66 and the weather was over 80. For dinner, I grilled some chicken legs and was lazy and didn't check their temp before taking them off.  I thought they had a pink hue to them because of the applewood smoke but after starting on my third, I saw they were barely cooked at all. During the workout, I felt like I was going to puke anytime I thought about the chicken, which was pretty much the entire workout.

Thursday: 8.9 miles (6:49); 1.5 miles (8:06); 6.4 miles (7:32)

Friday: 9.7 miles (6:47); Skipped run. Granted next week isn't a peak, per-se, but a slight reduction in volume this week won't hurt!

Saturday: 15.1 miles with 10 miles of 1/2 mile moderate, 1/2 mile fast.  With the dew point right at 70 and the temperature about 75, my goal was to alternate 5:30 pace and 5:10 pace, with a hard push on the last one.  I finished the ten miles in 52:54 (5:17 avg.) and was right on/just under pace for the first nine and closed my last 1/2 mile in 2:14.  This was much easier than expected and I feel like I could have run 15 miles without an issue. I ran this workout the week before Grandma's two years ago and ran 51:17 with a 2:08 last 1/2 mile.  It was a little warmer and more humid this go-around and I was coming off a much better training cycle and more fit.  This gives me more confidence for next week and I like where I am four months out from my marathon; 3.4 miles (7:26)

Sunday: 4.5 miles (7:47); 9.6 miles (7:01)

Week Total: 96.1 miles.  Was expecting the volume to be at 100-105 but I had 10-15 miles in missed runs, so I don't care.  On a good note, I had two good workouts in the first time in forever.  The heat and humidity is very deceiving, but I feel like I'm in 64:30 half-marathon shape.

The big goal for next week (really in a few days) is to run well in the Garry Bjoukland Half-Marathon.  Looking at the field, I feel like I'm probably around 10th or so, on paper.  I know I'm not in PR shape, so I don't care about my time.  The top 10 runners get money, so that's all my goal. Almost all of the runners ahead of me on paper, except for a couple guys, are high altitude based.  So I'm hoping for some warm and humid conditions.  If that happens, I feel like I can potentially chase a top 8 or top 5 spot.

If the weather is good, my plan is run with the 65:00 crowd through at least 5-6 miles before slowly breaking away.  Right now, it looks like it will be slightly humid (dew point around 60), with a headwind the entire way and potential storms.  I'll have to play it by ear but the weather will be just humid enough to make people struggle that last 5k.  If conditions remain as is, I'll hang around 5:00ish pace for a while and try to start picking people off the second half.

Too many people are naive about the racing conditions and try to force their ideal race in less than ideal conditions.  If you can run 65:00 in the presently forecasted conditions, I feel that you can run 64:00-64:30 when things are near perfect.  So my plan is to go out just slower than that and hope there is a big pack that sticks to their plan so I can continue to focus on people when things get tough...as long as I'm not one of the dudes dying.

I also really enjoy the town of Duluth and am looking forward to relaxing and checking out a couple of movies with some of running friends who will be racing there.  So if you want to check out Jurassic Park or Mad Max, track me down.

And I finally posted my Country Music and BolderBoulder race stuff below this.