WEEKLY SUMMARY (November 18-24): 40 miles (92% easy and 8% 5k paces)

  Sunday: off

  Monday: 6.2 miles at 7:26/mi.

  Tuesday: off

  Wednesday: 5.2 miles at 7:25/mi.

  Thursday: 3 easy, 5k race in 18:44, 2.5 easy (8.6 miles total)

  Friday: 7 miles at 7:34/mi.

  Saturday: 13 miles at 7:28/mi.

I did indeed dig myself into a bit of a hole last week. After taking Sunday off this week, I still felt pretty bad on Monday and wasn't up to doing a tempo run. Then I woke up on Tuesday clearly fighting off a cold and didn't want to get out of bed, let alone run. On Wednesday I felt better but out of shape when running, and I kept things short because of the race on Thursday, which turned out ok. My mile splits from the race tell the story: 5:59, 5:47, and 6:06. I started out fast, maybe in the 5:30's, because I haven't run a 5k in months and got somewhat carried away by the masses who sprint for about half a mile and then jog the rest of the way. I too slowed down early once my body absorbed the fact that I wasn't going to stop very soon, as I had done in the only short intervals I've run at that sort of pace anytime recently (last week). But after I passed the first mile marker in 5:59, it became apparent that I had slowed down too conservatively and could hold a faster pace comfortably enough. This was something new. I don't think I've ever sped up or run that fast (5:47) in the second mile of a 5k. My strength from marathon training seems already to have translated a bit into endurance at higher speeds. But soon I was reminded that when I slow down in a 5k, it's almost always because of stomach discomfort. That once familiar sour ache revisited me in the third mile and prevented me from running under 6:00 pace. I couldn't even manage a finishing kick. But that was nothing new and doesn't worry me. The second mile, on the other hand, was an encouraging sign that I'm in a different place than before I switched to marathon-mode early this past summer, despite my setback earlier in the week. Perhaps I can hold 6:00 pace for longer without setting off my stomach by trying to run faster? Maybe I'll test that hypothesis in next weekend's 10k race. But back to summarizing this past week: on Friday I was somewhat stiff, especially in the hip flexors, which have been tightening up on me a lot lately, perhaps because I kicked my easy pace up a notch. But on Saturday I managed to get through my planned medium-long run in spite of very windy and suddenly colder weather. Next week I want, above all, to avoid taking days off and to keep steadily putting in some miles. I won't do a medium-long run because I want to do two workouts before next weekend's 10k: a short repetition workout with a few 400's at a faster pace than I've yet managed (ideally in the 5:20's), and 4 x 1 mile tempo intervals - with two easy days between these workouts (to avoid falling back into the hole I dug last week). So I might run about 50 miles total next week.