I ran a marathon paced longish run today: it was supposed to be 1 mile easy, followed mile 8 miles at marathon pace, then 1 mile at threshold pace, and then back for 2 more miles at marathon pace. I ran the whole workout a bit too fast at 6:41.4 average pace for the marathon workouts (6:43 was the goal), and an incredible 6:08.8 for the threshold mile. My whole workout was about trying to slow myself down. By the end, my legs were tired, but my cardio system was not working hard at all. The threshold mile was run by effort, because I had no pace information during the mile. It was slightly net downhill, but I've still probably overdone it.

I'm guessing my VDOT is now at least 56, might be close to 57. Weak point is still my VO2 max. But by the end of Phase III it seems like I'll have a realistic chance of a sub-18 5K.