My legs were really tired this morning.  I think my whole body is tired from my exhausting weekend.  I was going to do 8 miles but after about half a mile I decided I would do 5 to let my legs recover a little.  When I got to 4 miles I decided 6 would be a good compromise because the last 1.6 are all downhill and easy miles.  All the miles were nice and slow.  This week will be less miles than last week but hopefully they are all quality miles.

.5 mile warmup followed by 7.5 at a sub 7 pace.  I was still recovering from my weekend and everything in my body felt tired so I had to really mentally dig deep to get through the 7.5 miles.  It was good to get a mental workout along with a tempo/speed workout.

I was planning on going to the track outside the gym but it was closed for the day so I had to do another TM run.  After my faster run yesterday I decided to take it easy.  Set the pace at 7mph and incline at 1.0 and went at it for almost an hour and a half.  Overall the legs felt good.

The best way to put it is I endured my 22 mile run this week.  My body with regards to injuries felt really good.  I am hoping all those little things I had at the beginning are gone now.  I didn't run fast, but I was steady for the run.  The course I run is pretty intense with some really hard uphills.  I'm hoping it all comes together in about 3 weeks.  

AP:  9:18

TM run at 8:34 pace.  Legs felt good after my 22 mile run.

Just some junk miles today.  Tried to speed it up a little on the downhills but overall just took it nice and easy.

AP:  8:08

I did a TM run today because I wanted to do a run slightly under my goal MP and I thought it might be the best way to do it because it stays flat.  I did a .5 mile warmup and then did 12.5 miles at a 6:58 pace.  I had to stop because the TM ends after 30 minutes and I had to take a couple bathroom breaks (which concerns me a little) but I was able to get the 12.5 miles done.  I was tired by the end of it but I have put in a lot of miles the past week, it was in the afternoon, and I really didn't each much before the run.  Overall I felt good, but I was honestly hoping to feel a little better.  Maybe after this week and 2 weeks of taper my body will respond and I will be able to keep that pace for the full 26.2. Time will only tell.

8 recovery miles this morning.  My legs felt good after my run yesterday so that was a positive thing.  AP was 8:40.  I'm shooting for another 8-10 tomorrow because I might not get much running in on Friday.

mile repeats at 6:20 followed by 1/2 mile recovery.  5 miles at 6:20 and 3 recovery miles total.

I was planning on my last long run of the training cycle today but things did not work out like I had planned.  It seems like that has been the recurring theme this marathon training cycle.  I felt terrible this morning with my left calf bothering me more than usual, my right calf starting to hurt a little too, and my left hamstring was tight and didn't feel right. Along with that my stomach was not feeling great this morning.  I ran at a 9:18 pace and still struggled to make it 9 miles.  I finally accepted this morning that my marathon coming up is going to be for fun, not to compete.  I have never really felt healthy the whole time and I think right now is not the time for me to try to BQ with everything I have going on.  Sometimes life just presents too much and the body can't handle it all.  I think this may be the issue for me.  I tried my best, but it's just not my time.  I will have fun hanging out with my buddy Rhett and being there when he goes sub-3 and just try to enjoy the marathon experience.

I took today off after my terrible run yesterday.  My legs felt terrible and I felt like they needed a day off.

Tempo run

Nice and easy run.

12 miles with all the downhill at MP.

AP:  8 min/mile

easy recovery miles

It's Race Week!

.15 mile at MP during each mile.  5 miles.  

AP:  8:34/mile

4 nice and easy miles.

AP:  8:41/mile