Week -8 is over. It went OK, but it became clear that I'm not as strong as I hoped I was.

I ran a 5-mile LT run on Tuesday, and it was quite a bit slower than I wanted it to be. Mile splits were 6:25, 6:45, 6:40, 6:56, 6:41. The 6:56 mile was a slight uphill, and I had to stop for cars, I think, twice. The last mile was slightly downhill. Altogether 71ft of climbing in 5 miles.

So this is like 6:41-6:42 average, but let's call it 6:40. That puts me below 52 VDOT, or a 3:05-3:06 marathon. Not terrible, just a little weaker than expected. The moral of the story is not to train harder than 52 VDOT.

Training paces (max): 7:42-8:41 easy; 7:02 M; 6:38 T; 91, 3:48, 4:32 for 400m, 1000m, 1200m intervals.

My long run of 17 miles was pretty hard, but I ran it at 7:48 pace, which is pretty much as fast as I can expect it to be. Besides, this was my longest run for almost a year.

Week -7 (recovery):

M: Rest

T: 12 MLR

W: Rest

T: 9 w/ 4@LT

F: 5 R

S: 16 L

Total: 42 miles

Week -9 was less than ideal due to weather. On Monday, we got enough snow that every gym in town closed down, and it was not possible to run outside. So my run was out. After that, the freeze didn't let out until basically today (a whole week). On top of that, we got more snow on Wednesday, and temperature dipped into single digits occasionally.

But at least the gyms opened every day (sometimes with a bit shortened hours, but I made it work). An extra bit of complication is that in Kentucky, you must wear a mask on the treadmill, so any halfway serious run is impossible. I did try one easy 5-miler with a mask on, but it sucked so much, that for all other workouts, I went over the bridge to Indiana.

So I ended up with only 4 runs, instead of the planned 5. I added a mile to my Tuesday recovery (due to the skipped run on Monday), so I ended up 7 miles short of the original goal. I finished the week with only 36 miles. But at least that included a 11-mile medium long run and a 16-mile long run, of which the last 10 was at marathon pace.

Doing this on the treadmill is mentally taxing, but physically, it was entirely doable. I ran the fast portion at 7:00/mile, and this does feel like my correct marathon pace at the moment. The run was never painful, not even in the last few miles, but I *was* quite tired by the end. This is all expected, and the way it should be.

Now let's plan week -8:

Mon: 5 R

Tue: 10 w/ 5@LT (6:35?)

Wed: 11 MLR

Thu: R

Fri: 5 R

Sat: 17 L

 Total: 48 miles.

This look genuinely hard. MLR following a hard LT run, and a 17-miler at the end of the week. The total mileage is also going to be my highest since November (and that one had no workouts). Fortunately the cold snap is over and week -7 is supposed to be recovery.

So last week was largely a success, and we even escaped the weather. We aren't so lucky this week. We expect 7 inches of snow tonight.

So this next week plan is highly tentative. I don't mind paying for gym, but they may close, too, and I will need to get there somehow.

Week -9:

Mon: 8 GA w/ 6 x 10 HS, 8 x 100 ST

Tue: 4 R

Wed: 11 MLR

Thu: Rest

Fri: 4 R

Sat: 16 w/ 10@MP (7:00 min/mile)

Total: 43 miles.

Finally up to 5 day weeks. The only hard run is Saturday, by which time the weather will be OK, but the snow may not melt out. I will do my best to get to the gym for every run I can't get done outside (which may be all of them).

Still on the quest of trying to find my VDOT. I figured that if my marathon pace is 7:00/mile, then my VDOT (per RunSmartProject calculator) is 52.3, and my LT is 6:36. So last night, I decided to try that for the middle 4 miles of an 8-mile run.

Slight complication was a serious ice storm in Louisville, so I had to find a gym to run. Planet Fitness closed due to inclement weather, so I ended up in LA Fitness. I'm thinking about getting a membership, because weather is not getting better for at least the next 10 days.

I set the treadmill to 6:35/mile, and it felt quite easy for the first mile. I was fine for 3-miles (I did 2-2 breathing until mile 2.9), but then the wheels started to fall off. The last quarter mile was pure struggle. I seriously needed willpower even to just do the last 0.1.

This result is slightly strange, but I think it most likely indicates lack of fitness (VO2 max). I've seen this before. My VO2 max is too close to my LT, so it is hard to maintain my LT for more than 20 minutes. The good news is that VO2 max is the fastest to train up.

I think the rest of the week will be fine, but I do probably need a gym membership.

Outstanding first week of training. Frankly, it felt relatively easy, resting every other day. I feared the last day's marathon paced run, but it turned out better than I expected.

So I finished the week with 35 miles, as planned. The crux of the week was the last run: 13 miles w/ 8 @ marathon pace. I wasn't sure what to aim for, so I mostly ran it by feel, though I think I carried away a bit, and pushed just a bit too hard. The fast miles were 6:48, 6:59, 6:57, 6:53, 6:57, 6:43, 7:07, 6:46 for an average of 6:54.

Based on this, I'm thinking that I should train like I'm trying to run a 7 min/mile pace marathon, which is 3:04-3:05. Though in actuality, the lack of high mileage, and the presence of hills will probably make it more like the original 3:10.

Next week we will have some brutal cold, but as of today, we will have at least 20 F at some point on every day. That means, training is possible. Workouts are harder in low 20s, but possible.

Week -10: 39 miles.

Sun: Rest

Mon: 11 MLR

Tue: Rest

Wed: 8 w/ 4 @ LT

Thu: Rest

Fri: 5 R

Sat: 15 MLR

I will keep this schedule, but everything from Wednesday is in jeopardy. Maybe I'll try to run in the gym with a mask on.