Though I haven't posted recently, I've done a fairly consistent job of training, though I admit I did skip some runs.
After the 10K, I did my long run, and my 5 x 1000 m workout on the street with some hills during Thirsty Thursday. But when it came to the Sunday 18-miler with 14 at marathon pace, I couldn't get myself to do it. It was cold rain outside, and getting dark. So I skipped that one.
Then I skipped the next Monday (lots of work, as always, but also scheduled rest day), and on Tuesday, which was supposed to be a workout, I decided to bring the schedule ahead by a day to get in line with the Saturday race.
I did a 5-mile tempo instead of a tune-up race that weekend. And then I did week -3 correctly exactly, except the 4 x 1200 m was done on the street again. This time, I can't even opt into the track, because Waggener is being resurfaced.
OK, so where are we? Long runs are more or less OK. I did a 20-miler yesterday in the rain, and I felt pretty strong the whole time. I'm not too worried about endurance, though clearly 54-50-mile weeks are kind of low. But my speed is much more worrisome.
Here is the the tally of the workouts since the 10K.
5 x 1000: 4:10, 3:57, 4:16, 4:07, 4:40. This was super hilly, the last interval included the infamous Library Hill, but I would put the flat equivalent to somewhere around 4:07. That is 48 VDOT.
5-mile tempo: 7:11, 7:09, 7:20, 7:13, 7:10. This was in the neighborhood with some rolling hills, so the average should be a fairly accurate assessment of my lactate threshold. That is 7:12.6, which is 47 VDOT.
4 x 1200: 4:57, 5:01, 5:02, 5:08. Again, neighborhood, rolling hills. The slowing is concerning. Average is 5:02, 46 VDOT.
Given that the 5 x 1000 is mostly speculation, I think 47 may be the correct VDOT figure. That would make me barely faster than I was in the fall, at 3:21:00 marathon.
I think I'll go for 3:20. I said this to Scott on Thirsty Thursday. Very disappointing, as that is barely any better than the 3:24 fall marathon on huge hills.
I don't take care of body. I don't eat well, and I don't sleep well, I drink too much, and I still have extra weight on me. I'll try to behave better in the last 3 weeks of taper, and we'll see if I can get faster by the fall.
