Week Recap (4 May 2008 - 10 May 2008) - 84 Miles

This was a good week mileage-wise but pretty disappointing in terms of workouts. I put in a nice long run on Sunday and had a few other solid 12-13 mile days. The workout on Wednesday didn't turn out as I was hoping, I finished the workout with some decent quarters but I was really out of it on the longer intervals. I was thinking that the problem was mostly mental but after Saturday's workout I started worrying that there might be something wrong physically. I don't know if the mileage is taking its toll but I think by now I shouldn't have any problems running just over 80 miles. I might bring the mileage down a bit next week and hopefully get out of this slump. I'm running Bay to Breakers on Sunday a week from now so it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep the legs a bit more rested.

Saturday, May 10, 2008 [10M]

5M decreasing pace at Sawyer Camp. 6:01, 5:41, 5:31, 5:39, 6:00. I was at Sawyer Camp around 1PM, started with a 2 mile warm-up and got right into the workout. The goal was once again to start at 6:00 and bring it down 20 seconds each mile but obviously I was no where near my goal. I pretty much nail the first half of the workout, which of course is the least important part. I was 3:01/3:00 for the first mile, 2:50/2:51 for the second was pretty much right on pace on the third, coming through the half in 2:41. Things went downhill from then on. I probably lost 2-3 seconds making the turn back at 2.5 miles, so the second half of the 3rd mile was probably 2:47-48. I was working a lot harder than I was expecting at that point, my legs feeling heavy but also working hard aerobically. I only managed to come through the half in 2:43 for the 4th mile and pretty much gave up on the workout after that. The last mile was fairly meaningless, I was just going through the motions and not putting any effort into it. Obviously a disappointing workout, making it two bad workouts in a row.

Friday, May 9, 2008 [10M]

Redwood Shores. I got out of Club O by 6PM, wanting to put in an easy 10. Although I ran slow, averaging just over 7:00 pace, I wouldn't call this run easy. My legs were feeling crappy and I was dragging myself for the last half of the run. I almost cut it short to 8 but eventually decided to go through with it.

Thursday, May 8, 2008 [12M]

Foster City. I was planning to get out for a short run at noon but couldn't get out of work so I ended up going longer in the afternoon. I was expecting the legs to be tired after yesterday's workout but I felt decent. I averaged 6:40 pace, running fairly even paced.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 [12M]

2x1600, 4x800, 4x400. 5:04, 5:08, 2:22, 2:29, 2:25, 2:27, 68, 66, 66, 65. I drove out to Redwood city this afternoon and tried out the track at Sequoia high school for this workout. Carlmont high school is a lot more convenient but I I'd rather do workouts on a 400m track. I didn't get there until 6:30 PM so I didn't take much time to get the workout underway after the usual 2 mile warm-up. I was originally planning to run 5x1600 but I after the first two intervals I decided to switch to some shorter stuff. I got out slow on the first 1600, coming through the 400 in 77 and the 800 in 2:33. Picked things up a bit after that and ran mid 75s for the the last two laps. I got out faster on the second 1600, running 75s for the first 2 laps but slowing down to 79s for the last 2. I was really out of it mentally so after the second interval I figured that it wasn't worth trying to run any more 1600s. I wasn't very focused on the 800s either, I was slowing down too much on the second lap and my times were all over the place. I got out aggressively on the first one, came through in 69 and finished in a decent 2:22. I was out in 73 for the second one and didn't put much effort on the 2nd lap, slowing down to a 76. I was out in 71 on the 3rd but only managed a 2:25 then I was only able to get out in 73 for the last one but at least didn't slow down too much on the second lap. I managed to run some decent 400s and salvaged the workout a bit. I was getting out fairly aggressively, coming through 200 in 33 for the first one and 32 for the other three, and held it together to the line. I ran about 4 miles for cool-down but my legs were spent and I pretty much put in some junk miles.

Tuesday PM, May 6, 2008 [8M]

San Carlos Road Runners Club. I made it to San Carlos this evening and joined Doug, Brad and Bridget for the usual Tuesday night run. Doug took the lead in setting the pace and we were moving along well the whole time. We were probably around 7:00 on the way out and 6:40-6:50 on the way back.

Tuesday AM, May 6, 2008 [5M]

Foster City. I got out at noon for a quick 5. I was feeling pretty good, clipping 6:30s for the most part. I had enough time to ran some good strides afterwards and stretch before heading back to work.

Monday, May 5, 2008 [12M]

Sheep Camp - Ralston.

Sunday, May 4, 2008 [15M]

Huddart. I drove out to Edgewood and Canada Rd this morning and met with Doug and Brad at 8:15. We took the short way to Huddart, getting there in 20 minutes or so. As soon as we got there Brad and I broke off so it was just the two of us from then on. Brad only wanted to run 12-13 so we stayed at Huddart for a little less than an hour and headed back to the car. We got back in 1:37, and I added on another 10 minutes by myself along Canada Rd. It was nice to do a long run with some company, it's been a while. We were pretty much chatting the whole way and time flew by. It sure was nice to be done with Sunday long run by 10AM, a time when I'd normally be waking up.