Hanging by a thread: Week of 9/24-30

OK, so I'm prophetic, but not in a good way. My body broke down this week. I don't know what it was, because the cold I got last Saturday was not that bad. I'm guessing not sleeping much leading up to and including the Asia trip didn't help. Not surprisingly, when I woke up Monday morning, I just didn't want to get out of bed. The feeling lingered until Friday. In a way, I'm glad this is happening now, 8 weeks out from the marathon, because it won't have a huge impact on my performance down the line. However, it still feels crappy. Here's how this week went:

Mon: AM - core, too tired for the pool; PM - 7.1 miles @ 7:49, run felt ok

Tue: PM - 11.4 miles including (2x800, 3x1200, 2x400) @ 5:34 mile, had to tempo it to the track, intervals felt crappy, had stomach cramps and the pace just didn't feel comfortable

Wed: PM - 5.6 miles@ 9:46, 30 min. core work; feeling better today, but still not great.

Thu: AM - 10 miles @ 7:47, held MP for 6 miles and then had to bag it, felt horrible, last 3 miles were a death march

Fri: off

Sat: 22.2 miles @ 7:39, 10 miles @ 8:23, 10 miles @ 6:57, 2 mile c/d, rest day did the trick, felt much better today

Sun: 5.4 miles @ 8:20, nice run down in North Falmouth, legs were stiff, but feeling great.

Total: 61.6 miles

This week was a meltdown after coming back from Asia. Emotionally, I really wasn't back in the swing of things and my body was in no shape to run. I was really willing myself through the runs Mon-Wed. I was feeling reasonable on Tuesday, but the intervals took a lot out of me and it left me spent for my recovery run on Wednesday. In fact, I did everything wrong on Tuesday. I had a late lunch, only 2 hours or so before the intervals, and because i was running late, basically did a tempo run to the track. By the 2nd 1200, I was battling some bad stomach cramps. I was hanging on to the back of the pack after that. I had a standard 10 mile @ MP planned for Thursday, and I awoke to find it hot and humid. I took it out easy for the 1st mile, and then dropped it down to marathon pace. I was holding 6:50s fine until about the 6th mile, at which point things just started falling apart. I decided to shut it down after mile 7 and walk/jogged home. Very disappointing run. Many negative thoughts during the run today.

After my usual rest day on Friday, I didn't know what to expect on Saturday. I was feeling better overall, but my legs didn't feel recovered. I had a 20 mile fast finish run on tap with the Boston Fit folks. My plan was to run easy for the 1st 10 miles and then do an assessment at mile 10. I started running easy with Roger and it felt like we slowly picked it up all the way to the turnaround. At the turnaround, my legs were starting to tire, but overall I felt pretty good. I slowly picked up the speed and as I progressed, I noticed that I was feeling better and better. I basically turned this into a progression run, which I'd never done before. I was probably doing close to a 6:30 mile by the end and I felt elated. I hadn't quite hit my MP for the 2nd half, but I was feeling pretty good. This afternoon's run was a stiff one, but my body feels a 100% better compared to the beginning of the week.

So I feel like I dodged a major bullet this week. I thought for sure the cold was going to drag my training down the drain (especially after Thursday's debacle), but I salvaged it by the end of week. This sets me up well for the BAA Half next Sunday. I'm hoping to at least break 1:25 and if all goes well, break 1:23 and qualify for the NYC Marathon.

Plan for next week 10/1-7
Mon: 6-7 miles EZ
Tue: 11 miles including intervals
Wed: 12-13 miles on trails
Thu: 5-6 miles EZ
Fri: off
Sat: 4 miles
Sun: 17 miles, including BAA Half Marathon, Goal: sub-1:25

Till next week!