Week -9 is done; less then perfect, but it will do.

After the very easy Monday recovery (25 F), Tuesday was brutal: going out at 6:22pm for 14 miles in 22 degrees. My last water bottle froze shut by the end. so I ran the last 5 miles without water. Big snot and sub-20 temperature on Wednesday forced me on the treadmill, then two easy days with 0 and 6 miles (29 F).

Saturday was 16 with 12 at marathon pace, but it wasn't happening. Too cold (38 degrees), too hilly, too tired somehow. Still pushed it a bit, and I ran miles 5-10 pretty hard (essentially marathon pace or close), and the rest also decently fast. So I ended up averaging 8:05/mile (moving). Not sure why, but by the last mile, my legs didn't want to move.

OK, I'm slow as fuck, but at least I got the miles in. Last cycle I never exceeded 95 miles in consecutive weeks, and I've just cleared 106 these last two. Maybe that's why I'm slow.

Next week is recovery. Week -8:

S: Rest

M: 8 GA

T: 8 w/ 5 x 800 at 5K pace, 50-90% jog 

W: 5 R

T: Rest

F: 8 GA w/ 6 x 10 s hills + 8 x 100 strides

S: 14 MLR

This is not hard, though I'm not sure how fast I should do the 800s. Doing them by feel is not stupid.