Week 21 Recap

Sambone: S(0), M(15, was going to go short but ran into Mike D. and PJ on the trail in Delaware...great run), T(8 w/ the last 20 minutes pick-up), W(3), R(am 2, pm 12 track workout), F(6), S(14 w/ 10 @ 58:45). Total=60. Today's run was a big confidence boost. I ran the Mountain Goat course, which is pretty hilly, trying to keep 6-minute pace. I went through 8 miles at 48:05. This point is probably the highest elevation mark of the course. The last two miles were potentially a tiny bit short, but it was still nice to finish faster going downhill. 2:37 has become my own personal A-standard for Pittsburgh, though as I've said, if I run anything close to this, I'll be pretty happy. As I did with the half, I figure it's arguably best to try to keep this pace as long as possible and let the chips fall where they may. Probably not true come mile 20, but it sounds good for now.

RO$$: S(11), M(0), T(0), W(9), R(11), F(7), S(8). 46 miles total. Monday I was a bit of a baby and didn't run because it was raining, which obviously took down my total for the week. This morning I ran my race, a 10k in something like 38:15. The pace obviously wasn't too fast, but the course was super hilly, so my splits were probably anywhere between 6:45 and 5:15. (I didn't wear a watch, or else I'd report my splits.) Other than the first mile, I felt pretty good, and feel fine about my fitness. As I noted about the last few miles of the half-marathon where I picked it up, it's hard to run faster than you ever do during the course of "training." So I'm glad I went out and made myself do a workout. As long as we're throwing out goals, I'd say my A-standard is 2:50. I predict I'll finish somewhere around 2:53 provided the weather is good.

Coming up this week, a new installment of "What Can Marathon a Trois learn from . . ."

Gordon: S(4) M(20) T(4) W(8) R(8) F(4) S(8) 60 miles total. Sunday I got caught up at the end of the day with work. I had intended to run the 20 miler in the afternoon, but a lot of crap came up from work that had to be done, and the night got away from me. So, I planned to run the 20 miler on Monday night. This was a terrible idea that had lasting consequences for the rest of the week, but it had me motivated all day on Monday at work to get myself ready, which made the day go a lot faster (and, as I'm sure Ross can attest, at this point I'm just starting each day with my eyes on the clock, waiting for the time that I can go back home).

Anyway, the 20 miler felt great. I did have to buy a power bar at the 15 mile mark, but I can safely attribute that to the fact that I had to work the entire day, and I'd eaten lunch about 5.5 hours prior to that point. The last 5 miles I tempo-ed and I put down close to 6:15 pace for the last three. All told, it was a great run, but MAN, was I exhausted for the rest of the week. I'm glad that I'm in a new week and I am planning on running a race this week (similar to what Ross did). Although, I'll be running a 5 mile run.