I needs to get seriously lazy on October 23rd.

Last Week

After my wednesday speedwork, I took the rest of the week off. I was still having pain in my legs. We travelled to San Diego and due to a hellacious travel evening, and many family committments, I didn't get my 17 miler in.

This week

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 5 miles with 6x100 m strides
Wednesday - 10 miles with 4x1200 at 6:30-6:40 pace (treadmill)
Thursday - 10 miles
Friday- rest


I am not missing any runs this last hard week of training. During taper, I think I may need to give my legs a little more TLC than Pfitzinger allows for. I will keep the integrity of the system, but I may drop some of the short 4-5 milers for extra rest. At this point, I see no use in doing a 4 mile run, as long as I get my speedwork run and long run in.

It's getting harder to get up in the morning and do the runs in the dark and chilly weather. I feel good once I start, but it's the first step that's the hardest.

We made our airline reservations for a short trip to Italy in November. I am going to visit a hospital that has a noted expert that performs a particularly new procedure I do. I hope to get some insight on how he does it and improve my procedure as well. We will be going to Venice for a few days before returning to Milan for my observation. In all, it is one week.

This may be my last marathon for a while

Runs (some overlap from last week's blog)
Mon- Rest
Tues- 5miles
Wed- 9 miles, (2 warm up, 5x1000 at 6:45 pace, 3 cooldown) 
Thurs-12 miles (great run, ran many miles in the low 8s)
Fri-Rest
Sat- 5 miles-recovery effort
Sun - 17 miles, 14 at MP (avg 7:33, many into the wind miles)

Total: 48 miles

Mon:- Rest

Tues: - Rest- my legs felt trashed from Sunday and I got out of work too late to do my run.

Wed: 8 miles (4 warm up, 5x1000 at 6:20 pace, 2 cooldown) -  my legs still feel tired, but I was very encouraged that my pains get better at faster speeds and that I was able to keep splits of (2:26, 2:18, 2:23. 2:26. 2:22 after running 4 miles)

II was very encouraged by the fact that I was able to do 14 miles at very close to MP. My MP is 7:27, and I averaged 7:33. My slow miles were into the wind, but I didn't speed up to compensate when I  was withteh wind. The only negative was I took Ibuprofen before the run. I did that with my first marathon when I had ITB issues. I didn't need it for marathons 2 and 3. Ideally I wouldn't do it, but seeing the glimmer of hope that I can get a 3:15 makes me think that I will use Ibuprofen to get through the hardest runs (mainly the long runs) and take some extra days off during the taper.

big news soon

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DWD Week

Runs
Mon- Rest
Tues- 4 miles plus strides
Wed- 8.2 miles, (4.25 warm up, 5x600 at 6:30 pace, 1.25 cooldown) 
Thurs-11 miles
Fri-Rest
Sat- 14 miles - DWD- Hills
Sun - rest

Total: 37.2 miles

Mon:- Rest

Tues: - 5 miles (supposed to do 8, but just felt tired)

Wed: 9 miles (2 warm up, 5x1000 at 6:30-6:20 pace, 3 cooldown- on the treadmill)

I bought new shoes (Trusty Brooks Adrenaline GTS-6 in a bright yellow) and I have been religiously stretching and occasionally taking ibuprofen. The pain is much less when I am running fast and more when I am running slow. Also, I stopped wearing my dress shoes to work which have little cushioning. By wearing shoes with more cushioning, I don't feel the thigh pain during the day. I think I will be able to overcome this, but my pace is still a question mark. My 1000m repeats this week were really great. I was able to keep teh pace without too much difficulty or pain. I finally se a glimmer of hope that some speed is developing. I have a 12 miler tonight (I slept in this morning. My son climed into bed with us and I just couldn't get out and run.) this weekend I have a definign run. A 17 miler with 14 at Marathon pace. This will tell me a lot.

Garden:
We are still getting some tomatoes. Some of the Heirloom varieties are becoming ripe now. It is really nice. We made a Thai Stir Fry and used some Thai Basil from our garden. My favorite vegetable, okra, has been disappointing this year. I have one okra to show for my gardening work.

Next week is N's 3rd birthday. We have a little family party for him and then a few weeks later, teh big kid frenzy at the local Little Gym. Should be loads of fun. I haven't figured out what to buy him yet.

I have a lot of travel in the next few months and it will impact some training. Some will be after the marathon.

San Diego
Minneapolis
Boston
Milan/Venice
New York City
Dallas

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I guess I have my answer- Quad pain isn't leaving and neither am I

Runs
Mon- Rest
Tues- Rest
Wed- Rest
Thurs-Rest
Fri-Rest
Sat- 5 miles
Sun - 20 miles

Total: 25 miles

Lots of rest. I have come to the conclusion, that whatever I have is going to be around. I'm just going to have to deal. I missed a really important week with alof of speedwork. I have put in alot of slow miles and I have no idea when or where the speed will come from. I'm going to trust the program, get all my runs in and go from there. I have bought new shoes and my wife bought me a massage as an anniversary gift. The groin pain has stopped completely, but the nagging quad muscle tightness is still there.

The 20 miler was good for about 14 or 15 of it. It was pretty smooth. After the turnaround at the 0 mile marker, heading back for the final 6, I started gettting really sore. My right ITB started acting up, which is "new". I was extremely sore for the rest of the day.

Plan: next week is DWD. With some reduction in mileage for the weekend, I should hit around mid 40s.

Today is A and my 7th wedding anniversary.

Garden:
Lots of tomatoes. 18-20 in the last week alone. We canned much of the tomates with some friends who bought about 70 pounds of tomatoes. We made many quarts of Salsa and some tomato sauce. Should be really awesome to open them up in the winter.

1 Eggplant
Some butternut squash
Many peppers
No okra