Bam! 91.2

I thought this was going to be an 80 mile week. Well, it is going to be an 80 mile week as of tomorrow when you consider that my schedule is set up from Monday-Sunday. I have been thinking about the number 80 so much this week that I forgot to do my normal obsessive compulsive habit of adding up 7 day sequences and seeing if I'm doing more miles on other 7 day 'weeks' that may start on Sunday or Wednesday or Friday.

I was so freaking slow this morning when we started the run. It seemed like everyone was 'frisky' with the weather feeling perfect and everyone started running at a speed as if they were running on fresh legs. That was not me. I swear to you I was running 9:30-9:45 miles at the beginning of the run today. I felt like crap for over 7 miles. The turning point of the morning was when I pulled off to the creek along Shoal Creek Blvd and peed in the trees. With an empty bladder and a much needed break, I started doing some math in my head...

Sunday - 20.2
Monday - 10
Tuesday - 14
Wednesday 10.1
Thursday - 10.1 + 4.5
Friday - off
Saturday - 22.3

'Well no wonder I feel like a slug' is what I thought in my head after I added it all together. I had 70 miles in the last 6 days under my legs at the start of the morning. I figured out I had already hit 80 for the week by that point in the run and would be right at 90 (or just over) at the end of the day. That is my goal peak mileage for the entire training.

Best of all, I closed well today. I don't know what my splits were for the last few miles, but my overall pace was 8:56 today. Starting at 9:30s or higher at the front of the run means that I definitely negative split. My effort at the end sure felt like it was between 8:00 and 8:30s. If that is what it feels like to run 90 miles, I know I can handle this program. Bam! 91.2 is my new 7 day week mileage PR.

I might readjust some of my goals in the next month if I continue to feel like this with the high mileage.