Week 10 was largely OK, but somewhat mixed. The 14-miler went pretty well, judging from my Strava record, but I don't even remember it, so it must have been quite good.

I ran the 6-mile LT on the treadmill at the fire station (9.5 mph = 6:19/mile). It was pretty great. I changed to 2-1 breathing at around 3.9, and used for most of the fifth mile; however, I started to develop side stitches at 4.8, and I realized I was breathing too hard. I changed back to 2-2, and it was fine until the end of mile 6. It felt easier than the 5-mile LT last week.

Then the 20-miler was brutally hard. I finished it without a death march, but I faded toward the end quite a bit. Maybe due to the LT run just two days prior, of maybe because I mowed the lawn before the run, sweating for two hours in the sun. In any case, I was already tired after 12 miles, I wanted to stop after 16, I wend below 8 min/mile on the 17th, I just talked to myself into pushing into the 18th, I was fucking dying in the 19th, and my best sprint for the 20th was 7:43.

Maybe I just need a bad run every training cycle...

Week 9:
M: Rest
T: 6 R + 4 R
W: 15 ML
T: 6 R
F: 13 ML
S: 7 GA w/ 6 x 100 ST
S: 16 L w/ 12 MP

Week 11 went well. The LT run was on the treadmill: 5 miles at 6:18 pace. It was not too easy, and I changed to 1-2 breathing after 3 miles, but it wasn't unreasonably hard. I don't seem to be as fit as I was two years ago at the same point of the training cycle, but I'm mostly OK.

The facts that two years ago I was in better shape, and I barely managed to get under 3 hours on a flat course are not great signs for my 3-hour hopes. I may need to revise the goal.

I had my long run in Floyd Forks Park. 21 miles and it was quite hot, starting the run at 90 F and full sun. Many hills, too. I sill managed a 7:51/mile average (Strava, so water stops excluded). My shoes were totally wet by halfway, and I was quite tired at the end, but I still ran a strong last mile.

Week 10:

M: Rest
T: 6 + 4 R
W: 14 ML
T: 5 R
F: 11 w/ 6T
S: 6 R
S: 20 L

Total: 66 miles.

Week 12 finished with success. Happy to report that the 15-miler on Sunday felt kind of easy and the 55-mile week did feel like recovery - though remember that I had a "cheater" 51-mile week before this, which was supposed to be 63 miles.

And now for something completely different:

Week 11:

M: Rest
T: 10 mi w/ 5 @ T pace
W: 14 ML
T: 5 R
F: 11 ML
S: 7 GA w/ 10 x 100 ST
S: 21 L

Total: 68 miles.

Recovery week:

M: Rest
T: 8 GA w/ 10 x 100 strides
W: 12 ML
T: 5 R
F: 10 GA
S: 5 R
S: 15 L

Total: 55 miles.

It feels cheating that my last week was lower in mileage due to a skipped run, but it did contain some hard quality runs. Hope for the best. Try not to skip any more runs.

A decent week is finished today. On Tuesday, I did my LT run on the treadmill, and it went well. This was 9 miles with 5 at LT pace, which I set to 9.5 mph (6:18/mile). I changed to 2-1 breathing somewhere in mile 3 of the LT portion, and I struggled a bit in mile 5, but I never lost rhythmic breathing, and never went into the pain cave. A good threshold training run.

Then on Friday, I had to skip my medium long run of 12 miles, because I drove all night the night before, and I was too tired. A good decision in light of the circumstances, but it is still not good for training. That also killed my weekly mileage. Instead of 63, I finished with 51 miles. I know that even Pfitzinger says not to sweat a single skipped run, but it feels wrong...

I finished the week with an 18-mile long run, where the last 10 miles were done at marathon pace. Sounds impossible, but I did it with relative ease. It was raining the whole time, so my shoes and socks got soaked, and I had to carry the increased weight on my legs, but it was cool, so I didn't need to drink too much (I consumed a 1/2 liter of fluid), and I didn't overheat. I ended up averaging 6:45/mile for the last 10 miles.

After another real life interference, I skipped a Sunday training and used the opportunity to push myself back to Monday-Sunday schedule. It's ironic that the skipped run is a long run, but it won't show decreased mileage on Strava, because I already "paid" for this in week 1. So here is the new schedule.

Week 13: 07/31
Week 12: 08/07
Week 11: 08/14
Week 10: 08/21
Week 9: 08/28
Week 8: 09/04
Week 7: 09/11
Week 6: 09/18
Week 5: 09/25
Week 4: 10/02
Week 3: 10/09
Week 2: 10/16
Week 1: 10/23
Race week: 10/30

Otherwise things are going well. Last week was 62 miles with no quality other than long runs: 14, 11, and 18 miles. (I didn't remember Pfitz being this light on fast workouts.) They all went really well. The 14-miler was brutal, because it was done in 90 degrees, but weather cooled a bit for the second half of the week, so I managed a good 11 and a good 18. I would have called the 18 "very good", but I had some GI issues and I had stop stop for a bathroom break at mile 8.

The moment of truth is coming today: 9 miles with a 5-mile threshold part. I may need to run it on the treadmill though. Even though it's not super hot, it will be close to 90 in the early afternoon and I have firefighter training in the evening. I haven't decided to go for sure, but I want to, and it that case, I will just take the tempo run to the gym.