Week in Review

92 Miles
2 Doubles
22 Mile Long Run in 2:40
3 (Athlete) PRs

After enjoying a low key night out with our guests Thomas and Michelle on Saturday, I met up with Phil and a slew of other guys who were along for the ride for just an hour on Sunday morning at McAlpine.  I had a long run on the schedule between 2:40-2:50 in duration, which was really no big deal since I completed 23 miles a couple weeks ago at McAlpine.  Of course, I set out with the expectation that I would run at least 2:45.  Fueled by the fact that three of my guys set PRs yesterday (David -- 3+ min PR at 15k, Billy 30+ sec at 15k, and Brad - 2+ min at HM), I set off with a respectable pace after the second mile.  I was ready to make this long run feel awesome like it had with Laurie a couple weeks ago.  We ran 700-7:20 for the majority of the run, with a few slower miles when we turned around at the 4 mile mark. By the time 2:20 hit on my watch, I couldn't stop looking at my splits because the effect of running a workout on Wednesday and then again on Friday was beginning to take a toll on my body.  At this point, I was left alone with Charlie and I felt bad for my lack of ability to hold a coherent conversation, but it was all I could do to put one leg in front of the other.  Despite a fuel stop at halfway for some Honey Stinger chews and water, I still felt weak and lightheaded.  I willed myself to get to my car, which I did--just at 2:40 and as my Garmin beeped for 22 miles.  I stopped immediately and chugged a half gallon of orange Gatorade...not joking.  I still felt pretty awful and almost declined breakfast with T&M, but after 10 minutes, I think the gatorade started to kick in and I felt much better and met them at Owen's Bagel and Deli.

The main thing to remember is that my body was tired from two solid efforts back-to-back with less than optimal recovery days.  While I've spent the rest of the day feeling rather awful, I feel really positive about this week's events and am happy that I can at least finish out my week with a solid long run. Looking back at my past two marathon cycles, I've never done a run over 22 miles, and definitely not more than one run at 22 miles.  So far in this cycle, I've done 22 miles, 19 miles, 23 miles, 20 miles, and 21.5 miles.  Clearly I'm gaining something from these long runs and am looking forward to seeing the results manifest into something positive.  

On Friday, I was able to get some bloodwork done at LabCorp and I am eagerly awaiting the results.  I'm crossing my fingers that the results will come back with an improvement in my levels, which will likely serve as a catalyst to put me into a different mindset.