week of 24 March -- bad runs and alibis

Despite the title, I'm quite happy about the week. I got in 71 miles and I'm healthier than I was when I began the week. The title refers to the slow pace versus the high intensity. Despite averaging 150 bpm (75% MHR -- a pretty intense week by my standards), my pace was pretty slow (8:54 min/mi). I have lots of great alibis though.

• Mo - 5.85/8:53/144 -- hamstring tightened up at the end
• Tu - 6.13/8:57/146 am, 4.96/8:40?/??? pm (forgot to hit start! estimated pace and knew the distance) -- tightened up again each time (5-6 miles seems to be the limit)
• We - 6.13/8:33/146 -- decent pace, heart rate, tightened up again at the end, but improving
• Th - 7.05/7:54/168 am, 7.00/8:42/157 -- went a little nuts on the am run. It was dead flat which sucked me into the faster running, but my pace/heart rate was dreadful. I average less than 168 for the first 7 miles of a marathon. 7:54 ain't even close. I'm writing it off on the altitude. I ran Thursday in Albuquerque (5200 feet). You think Fenty's training at altitude? The dude has no chance. I developed a knot in my left calf at the end of the second run.
• Fr - 6.17/9:07/140 pm -- It was 70 degrees and I just flew cross country. I never do well with afternoon runs. The calf knot continued. Hamstring tendon not bad at all.
• Sa - 8.25/9:50/140 pm -- Cool temps, but I gallowalked (10 min run, 1 min walk) trying to nurse my calf. It officially overtook the hamstring tendon as my main concern. My real alibi for this run was the more than an hour of basketball I played with 5th and 6th graders (about half that time was full court). I had that feeling in my chest you have when doing a warmdown after running intervals. I worked on the knot with "the stick" and my fingers. Ouch!
• Su - 19.76/9:03/153 -- Terrible hr versus pace, but I expected that. This was a planned pseudo over-distance run (8 pm followed by 20 am). Hamstring tendon was no problem! I could feel the calf, but it wasn't an issue. It seems like the time with the stick really helped. I was really gassed at the end of this run. One of the hardest long runs I've ever done. I really didn't recover from the basketball and 8 miles yesterday. I think "residual fatigue" in training is the way to go in getting overcoming that last 10K of the marathon. I really needed this long run. I hadn't been over 8 miles in two weeks before today.
  

Week: 71.3 miles, 10h35m, 8:54 min/mi, 150 bpm avg

A couple of notes.

Positive vibes out to Joseph who had a scare during his 10K.

I got my new size 10 Nike Free 5.0's in the mail Friday night (right after my run). Wore them Saturday and Sunday. Perfect.

Michael Wardian placed third in the Knoxville marathon today in 2:29:50 after winning the National Marathon yesterday in 2:24:59. Holy cow. Talk about residual fatigue. My 8-miles-last-night alibi is looking pretty silly. Oh yeah, Wardian also finished second in 2:24:55 at the Shamrock marathon in Virginia Beach last Sunday!

Doing his best Wardian impression, Mayor Fenty ran 3:40 yesterday at the National Marathon. But did he beat 11 year olds in basketball? Huh? He did both the marathon and Cherry Blossom on back-to-back weeks last year. He jogged a 4-something though last year in the marathon before running 1:08:47. 3:40 had to take a little out of him though. I imagine he can't get in that many miles, so 3:40 couldn't have been a walk in the park.

The Traveling Wilburys rock. I just thought you should know. (I listened to them during today's run.)