Tough Week

This past week was a tough one. I was pretty pleased with my 5K last Sunday because I was able to run 32 seconds faster than I did in May even though the course was slower this time around. I was feeling the effects of the effort this week and that combined with catching some kind of bug either from work or from my kids made the week tough going from Wednesday onward.

Overall, I ran 75.9 miles for the week with a mid-week long run with some miles at MP, a HM pace session on Friday and 20 miles today. My body is definitely feeling it, but luckily this week shouldn't be so bad with mostly distance and 12 miles at MP next Sunday. In two weeks time I'm signed up for a half marathon and I hoping to run sub 6:20 pace for that one. We'll see. Here a summary of the week:

• M: 6.05m easy
• T: 9.7m
• W: 13.6m with 4.2m towards the end at 6:39 pace
• T: 7.7m with 8 x strides at the track
• F: 11m w/6.2m @ 6:18 pace. I wasn't sure if I was going to do this session since I wasn't feeling well the day before. Decided to give it a try and stop if things got too rough. First 4.2m were on the roads and trying to maintain pace around 6:20 was a struggle. Finished with 2 miles on the track and although there seemed to be no extra gear, I was able to stay on pace with final miles of 6:20 and 6:12.
• S: 7.4m on trail
• S: 20.45m - The last 4-5 miles on this run were a struggle. Legs were heavy and I really wasn't enjoying things. First half of the run averaged 7:45 pace while the last half was around 7:13 pace.

Although the legs are heavy and I'm feeling tired most of the time, the marathon training is definitely helping me build strength and endurance, which has been sorely needed. I hope this carries over to next year when I focus on the shorter stuff.