Philly Marathon Training, Week 6

Monday, August 25th:

Rest.

Tuesday, August 26th:

6:45pm, 84 degrees, 49%, 5-10mph.  Maple Ave out-and-back.  Mizuno Wave Rider 17.

6.5mi (51:11) (7:53/mi).  Strides.

Shook out the cobwebs the first two miles, finally got rolling the last mile and a half.  Feeling more explosive on the strides.

Wednesday, August 27th:

10:30pm(!), 79 degrees, 62%, calm.  Cherry Hill West Track.  Nike Pegasus 29 USATF, Adidas Adios Boost.

8.5m total: 2mi warmup, 4x 100m strides, 4x1200m (4:07/avg) w/400m recovery jogs (2:15-:20)
Splits: 4:07 07 06 08

Don't ask.  Let's just say circumstances placed me alone at the Cherry Hill West track at 10:30pm on a Wednesday night.  16 laps in one direction (warmup/cooldown), 18 laps in the other direction (workout).  My only light was the moon and an occasional passing airplane.  My only audience the stars.  But I found out what I needed to know, especially on that 4th rep.  Sometimes you need to dream big.

Thursday, August 28th:

8:00pm, 75 degrees, 55%, 0-5mph.  Kilmer Loop.  Nike Pegasus 29 USATF.

6mi easy (49:05) (8:11/mi)

Very easy first mile (8:33), steady miles 2-5 (8:14 14 14 06), smooth last mile (7:42).

Friday, August 29th:

5:45am, 59 degrees, 70%, calm.  Moorestown.  Asics Kayano 19.

10mi easy (1:19:30) (7:57/mi)

Conversational pace run with Jamie and Steve.  Cool weather felt great.

Saturday, August 30th:

7:00am, 62 degrees, 85%, 0-5mph.  Moorestown.  Asics Kayano 19.

13mi easy (1:40:52) (7:46/mi).  Strides.

Conversational pace run with Rosie.  Steady most of the run, just a tad faster (7:20s-:30s) the last couple miles.  Felt strong today.  Was also nice to hit the Boundary Creek Nature Trail loop and the MHS XC loop during the run.

Sunday, August 31st:

6:30am, 72 degrees, 95%, 0-5mph.  Croft Farm Trails - Pennypacker Trails.  Mizuno Wave Rider 17.

6mi easy (49:08) (8:11/mi): including :90 last 1/4mi on track

Definitely stuffy and tough to breathe this morning.  Forecast looks pretty similar for tomorrow's 5K, so I may have to temper any expectations of a reasonably fast time and just aim for a hard effort.  I felt pretty lethargic for most of the run today until the last mile and a half, and when I got to the track with just over a 1/4mi to go, I figured I would at least finish comfortably fast.  Surprised it was :90, felt more like 1:40-:45. 

Weekly Total: 50 miles

Some weeks just don't look that great on paper.  This is one of those weeks.  But you don't run races on paper and you don't know how you feel according to paper.  Wednesday night's effort alone was a gem this week.  I feel really good about where I am.  I am glad I backed off a little this week and dropped a planned tempo run - there's still lots of time between now and the "real" race day and despite a week low on miles, I still feel like I am only building the momentum to something great.