Training Log (6/12-6/18)

SUN - AM: 53:55, 7 miles. Very easy from home with Oscar and Carrie who are taking up temporary residence in my basement for a few days. Legs feel just fine and dandy after yesterday's shit show at Bentley. Closing in 81 will have that effect. PM: 71:20, 11 miles. My guests headed back to Beantown for the afternoon and I was well short on the day's mileage quota so I booked it out to West Hill to run with A-Ten before work. Hit a few 6:10's on the canal before calling it a day. So much for recovery.

MON - AM: 67:20, 10 miles. Hit up the Rail Trail this morning and took it pretty easy. 4 short hill charges and six strides were about the only thing even remotely strenuous about this run. By the time I got home I was pretty wiped however, but then I checked out Terry's log for last week and realized I'm just being a huge pussy and have nothing to complain about.

TUES - AM: 28 minutes, 4 miles. Slow to start then sub-7's for the last 3 miles. I can't remember the last time this happened before noon. PM: 10 miles. Workout at Bentley, as follows: 3 sets of 400m/400m/800m with 1:30 recovery after the first 400, 2:30 after the second one-lapper and 2:30 between each set. Kevin said to start off at 72 and work down to around 70 if feeling good. Actual: 71, 70, 2:22; 70, 69, 2:21; 68, 68, 2:19. A little fast on the last set but pretty much hit this one dead on. More importantly, I felt good doing it, which is certainly encouraging.

WEDS - AM: 66:30, 10 miles. 6:32 first mile, 2:55 for the last 1/2 mile. Judging by those splits, take a wild guess who I was running with. PM: 28:40, 4 miles. Knee hurts, plantar/heel are sore and quad is tight, but otherwise I felt just dandy.

THURS - AM: 5 miles. 15 min jog up to HC, 6 x 200 meters w/1:10 recovery in 31.12, 32.78, 32.12, 32.41, 31.97, 32.12, 10 min back home. Those times were certainly wind-aided. PM: 85:30, 13 miles. Self-inflicted double-dose of the 6-mile loop (40:30/37:40) at the Sterling Rail Trail + 1 mile easy (7:20). Nice night, solid run.

FRI - AM: 71:40, 10 miles. Out in 36:45, back in 35-flat. Quite possibly my slowest Rail Trail 10 ever, and I'm OK with that.

SAT - AM: 47:10, 7 miles. Solo from home with 6 Driscoll strides thrown in there to stretch the legs out a bit. Hopefully I can salvage a decent race tomorrow. Closing in anything faster than 81 will be considered 'decent' at this point.

WEEK TOTALS: 91 miles, 11 runs. Good week of training, last one below 100 for a while. I think I've acclimated well to the past few weeks of increased mileage and feel good about the direction I'm heading in right now. I'm going to race the 5K on the track at New Englands tomorrow, then plan on packing away a few good weeks of high mileage before racing the Stowe 8-Mile on July 16th. Hope these early days of summer are treating everyone well. Take it easy.

Quote of the day:

Distance running at an elite level is a bitch. It is hard work. You have to enjoy being tired all the time. If you expect to achieve at a level that is truly elite, then you can not live like a normal young adult in their 20's. Why? It requires abnormal behavior in order to achieve abnormal goals.
- Kevin Hanson