Getting size

I'm in the meat of my training right now. Two weeks ago, I ran 95 miles. Last week was 101 miles. This will be another 100+ week. I have seven days to go. That'll be 3-1/2 weeks of real size, inside of a 5 week streak at 80+.

Last week I was running flat... I was tired. I was sore. I was constantly hungry. Complaining. I was getting annoyed with the milage. I just lost some of my key training partners. Motivation was really dragging. I wanted it to end.

As of right now, this week... in my peak week... I'm want to hammer.

I'm holding myself back.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still tired, sore, hungry, etc. But I'm less-so than last week, and the mileage no longer phases me. I feel myself getting stronger with each run. I've been upping the pace a little as well. Meaning more moderate mileage in the 6:30-6:45 range, as opposed to the garbage 7:00-7:15 range.

It's now or never. Push down on that accelerator and hope I can take it.

The only other time that I attempted a streak like this was for my 2010 NYC Marathon, and that resulted in me over training. I was ultra-fit then, but the wheels came off and it certainly showed in the marathon. I don't necessarily feel as fast as I did then (yet), but I do have the endurance and I'm much less sore with it.

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Back to Racing:

I ran the FLW 10K this past Sunday. This was my first race in about 6 months. It's kind of pathetic that it's taken me that long to line up again after such a good Shamrock.

FLW was more of a personal test than anything, especially on the heels of 50 miles in the prior 3 days and 101 miles on the week. I was absolutely dead tired and in a mentally rut. As much as I didn't want to do it, this race was just what I needed. I forced myself to run fast and just gut it out.

After the first quarter mile, I pretty much ran the race completely alone. I was comfortabely stuck between 3rd and 5th places. It was nice little personal victory, as my splits were extremely steady and didn't waiver at all, especially given the lack of any competition. I finshed feeling strong and completely unphased. A mere tempo run.

Immediately upon crossing the finish line, I ran the course again... averaging about a 6:45 pace. 15 miles total... aggressive... when I didn't even want to get out of bed.

1- 5:27.6

2- 5:41.1

3- 5:41.3

4- 5:41.6

5- 5:37.6

6- 5:40.4

.2- 1:09.0

34:58 / 4th O'all, 1st AG (excl a top 3 finish)