Hobbling to the Start Line

Well, I still plan on kicking off my Twin Cities Marathon plan on Monday.  I was hoping to go into this cycle with a lot more miles under my belt and a back that didn't feel so wonky.  But it is what it is and my plan is still to train hard and shoot for the goal of 2:49:49.  I wrote the plan last week and it looks something like this:

     Monday doubles - 4 easy in the morning and 6 to 7 with the Williston group in the evening

     Tuesday Progression - range from 8 to 11 miles, pace from 9:00 to sub 6:30

     Wednesday doubles - morning range from 6 to 12 and evening will be 6 easy

     Thursday track - jog down to Minnetonka HS at 5 am and run the track hard.  800m to 1 mile
      intervals.

     Friday easy - 8 to 10 easy in the morning

     Saturday MLR - range from 8 to 16

     Sunday LR - range from 12 to 22

I am guessing my weekly high week will be around 100 miles with an average of about 90.  What's different about this plan is the consistent track workouts every Thursday.  I think I have maxed out the endurance with the high mileage over the past few years and need to get some speed and fluidity  back.  Second significant difference is the back to back long runs on the week end.  Really, this is done out of necessity; I coach a marathon group on Saturday, but at a pace that is slower than what I need for proper stimulus.  So, I will have an easy MLR on Saturday and a bit faster LR on Sunday.  Looks good on paper anyway.

I had my second consecutive scratch from a race, bailing on the Brian Kraft 5K on Monday.  The back was bad again and kept me from running.  I think I have finally found the right regimen of icing, stretching and conditioning to get back to running properly, at least I hope that's the case.  I will attempt to race this Saturday at the Liz Logelin 5k at Lake Harriet.  Can't afford to take any more mulligans in the Grand Prix!