April 18th-24th Training

Monday: 5.4 miles (7:06); 7.9 miles (6:55)

Tuesday: 10.7 miles (6:58). Crashed the last couple of miles on this one.

Wednesday: 9 miles with 6400m tempo in 20:28 (5:09, 5:09, 5:06, 5:04).  Spencer alternated 800m on/400m off with me since this is right at his goal 5k pace.  Felt a little sloppy at first but loosened up throughout the workout and wasn't too tired at the end.  I debated adding in a couple of 400s, but since yesterday was bad, I called it a day.; 6.8 miles (7:06)

Thursday: 9.4 miles (6:55); 4 miles (7:36)

Friday: 8 miles (6:59); 3.8 miles with 6x200m faster strides.  A middle schooler I work with was doing some 400s, so I paced him on the first 200m of each one.

Saturday: 10 miles with Shade Tree Trot 5k in 15:09. Felt decent on this and I think I could have run in the 14:40s if I really pushed it.  I was a little bit worried about Wild Bill but he hung back, so it was just myself and Erick Kigen for the first 1km or so.  After that, I gapped Erick on a gradual hill and slowly pulled away from the field over the course of the race to win by a little over 45 seconds. Splits were: 4:54, 4:56, 4:51. The course has some little hills and quick turns, so I think it runs about 15-20s slower than a fast road course.  Anyway, a good effort for me.; 4.4 miles (7:09

Sunday: 20 miles (6:20). I haven't gone long in three weeks, so I wanted one more long run before the marathon in six days.  While I won't gain any "real" fitness from it, I feel like I can gain a little muscle memory/neuromusclar fitness from it. Felt really smooth and tried to keep it easy since I just wanted the distance and didn't care about pace.  I naturally dropped down to lower 6s the last 5-6 miles and it felt like I was jogging.

Week Total: 99.4 miles. Almost a 100 mile week but who cares? I felt a ton better the second half of the week, so I hope I carry that into the marathon this weekend.  I'll still get a little bit of volume the first half of the week before backing off the last two days.  While I'm hoping to use the marathon as a steady long run, I need to be ready for battle, if required.  It's going to be hot and humid, so if I don't have any chumps trying to take me out, my goal will either be to run just under 2:24 or 2:26, depending on how I'm feeling.

Maybe later in the week, I'll give some hot tips (pun intended) for the Nashville Half-Marathon.