More? More.

week ending 2/24:

M - 8.5 @ 6:42/mi
T - 11.7 @ 6:45/mi (3 x 2000 @ 10k race pace w/800 jog: 6:49, 6:47, 6:45) - mostly 81s
W - 21.0 @ 6:35/mi (2:18) - last 3 in 5:56, 5:56, 5:51
Th - 12.4 @ 7:00/mi
F - 11.6 @ 6:56/mi
Sa - 16.2 @ 6:51/mi (1:51, Mt. Tabor from NW, really feeling the hills/previous days' distance toward the end)
Su - 27.0 @ 6:28/mi (2:54:30 total). 8 up, 16 @ MP at Sauvie (6:04, 6:01, 6:05, 6:06, 6:00, 6:04, 6:02, 6:04, 6:00, 6:01, 5:58, 6:02, 6:02, 6:02, 6:10, 5:57), 3 dn.

TOTAL: 108.4 / 12:07:05 / 6:42 pace

Ok, I decided to take the insanity to a whole new level this week, also running my biggest week ever, probably by at least 5 miles. Before I shifted to yes on LA, I had planned a long-ish taper leading into the Linfield 10,000 on 3/1. After hitting the Tues solo track workout well and later that day deciding yes on LA, I drastically changed that direction to do a “fit-in-everything-I-haven’t-yet-done-this-training-cycle” week. 21 pre-work on Wed 4:35 AM? Check. At least one overdistance run? (I did 2x28 and 1x27 before Chicago). Check. A Hansons-style 26.2 km at MP? Check. 100+ miles? Check. Over 12 hrs of training? Check. Was the whole thing ill-conceived? Maybe. My thinking was that I’d done well at VLH with a peak of 99 for the week ending 21 days out, why not do a monster week ending 21 days out from LA? (The dangers of being self-coached, right?) The obvious answer is it could well be too much to properly recover from before the race. But my volume has been good I’ve been recovering very well from it in general. So I’ve rolled the dice (ok, THROWN the dice) in hopes of topping off my endurance tank and we’ll see if it helps or hurts come 3/17. Right now just about everything hurts, but not in an “oh my god I’m injured” type of way, just in a “holy crap I can’t believe I just did that week” type of way. I've been thinking the last couple days "man, I'm in a training danger zone". Fingers crossed. But I figure I have nothing to lose.

This morning, I ran 7 pre-miles at about 7:00s before meeting my two training partners at Sauvie, 1 more mile easy with them, then the 16 @ MP, and 3 easy for cool-down at 7:20-7:00 (which was actually not at all easy being 24 in and having just run so hard). So they did 20 to my 27. While the MP felt hard from the start and all of us had done the 16 including up/down Tabor yesterday, we were together today thru 13, then they gapped me, finishing at least 35 seconds ahead. But it was more they sped up (5:58/6:00/5:35) rather than me slowing down much (6:02/6:10/5:57), except on the 6:10 which was gradual uphill followed by the reverse of it where they really kicked it in to the end-point, but man was I cooked. I’m never real concerned these days about “losing” a training run. Races are all that matter. These guys have 2:41 and 2:43 PRs to-date, but both I feel have a strong potential to go sub-2:40 at LA. We hope to all start together "conservatively" at about 6:05s the first third of the race.

The thought of running 80s-82s for 25 laps (goal time 33:59) this Fri evening sounds 100% deplorable at the moment, but after today I will in fact [have to] taper, probably starting out with 6 and 8 very easy Mon/Tues, and how I feel dictating what I do from there (I haven’t ruled out a Wed AM easy 15). LA automatically became the goal race and Linfield a tune-up, but my time goal on the track has not changed. A sharp taper starts now, with these final 3 weeks looking something like 75/65/whatever. If ever I’ve been in shape to attempt sub-6:00 avg for 26.2, this is it. But it would still take a phenomenal day/conditions/focus/hill-survival for that to happen.

I can’t believe I’m running like this at age 41. While never easy, it’s been absolutely unreal recently.