61 Miles with a Decent 10K

Another solid week in the books.

The primary goals for this week were to accomplish a decent/solid 10K performance and keep my mileage up above 60 miles for the week. Check / Check.

This morning I ran the BCCN Suzy's Run 10K. It was a perfect morning for a race - 60 degrees and breezy. I slept decent and was ready to roll! My goals were: (1) not go out too fast; (2) not let negative thoughts quash my run; and (3) finish strong. All in all, it went well. Ideal? No = I am still 1.5-2 minutes slower than I'd like. But solid = I was almost 2 minutes faster than my 10K a couple of weeks ago. So I'll take it. Certainly not perfection, but it is progress, baby.

First mile was into a pretty stiff headwind, but I clocked it at 7:17. Perfect. Second mile I had a sidewind/tailwind and felt great. Mile 2 clicked off at 7:00 flat. That *sounds* fast, but given the winds and the way I was feeling, I didn't think it was. Mile 3 started getting a little more congested with slower 5Kers, but I clocked 7:19. Great. Unfortunately, then the 10K folks veered off and I was running behind someone who was slowing down, but I didn't notice it. I felt great and was just running through the wooded trails taking it all in. Mile 4: 7:32. Oops. Unfortunately, we soon turned back into a stiff headwind and even though I was trying to pick up the pace, I didn't get much faster. Mile 5 was 7:31 and mile 6 was 7:38! Crikey. So I picked it up for the finish and finished in a 6:4x pace for a 45:48. I really would have like to have cracked 45, but overall, I was happy. A couple weeks ago I felt like I was killing myself to get 47:33. Today I was much stronger and more relaxed. Hopefully in a couple weeks, I'll be able to knock off another minute and a half.

This week I was scheduled for 64-68 miles, but I scaled it back slightly for this 10K. But I still logged a solid week:

M: rest / abs

T: 10 miles with 5x600m @ 5K pace; 90 sec recoveries (2:34, 2:30, 2:33, 2:24, 2:27). I was pleased that my last 2 were my fastest.

W: 15 easy (9:15) / abs

R: 8 easy (9:24) / abs

F: 8 easy (9:24)

Sa: 8.1 recovery with 3 striders (9:33) / abs

Su: 4+ warmup; 10K (45:48); 1.6 c/d

Total: 61.6 miles

Next week I am going to crank the miles back up.

My other notable training development is that I started logging my activity and nutritional intake at Calorie Count. I am really determined to drop 5-7 lbs before Chicago and just bumping up the mileage alone didn't seem to be working. If anything, the process this week has been very educational. For example, I had no idea just how bad extra sharp cheddar cheese is for me. (this, incidentally, is very unfortunate, BTW) :) Because I have to put everything I eat/drink into my log, it really does make me pause before I put something in my mouth. I think this will be a really useful tool the next few weeks. And it will help me get the whole family back on track a little better. I will keep you posted on how it works out. Upon a recommendation from KP, I also picked up the book Racing Weight. There isn't a whole lot of new info in there, but there is some useful info and it is definitely motivational, which is the name of the game at this point if I want to hit my goals in 6 weeks.

20 miles on tap for tomorrow. It is my gift to myself on Labor Day. :)