Dragons

I've been dreading planning this week's schedule. With an all-but-useless last week, I'm eager to get back at it this week. However, with the Hilly Valentines 5 Miler on Sunday, I was reluctant to put in anything too hard on Thursday for fear it may leave me still kinda unfresh for the race.

This is leading to a real toss up for me because I feel like my fitness is still very much in a limboesque state. While I feel like my workouts, as unfocused as they are, are doing a lot of good for me right now (as is the case when you start them back up), I also realize the damage they lay on me. And it is this unpredictable recovery time that has me reconsidering this week.

On the other hand, I can't ignore what a benefit feeling good on race morning does for me. Well, I should rephrase that -- in my delicate position, I can't tell you have fucked I am if I show up fatigued. I do not have the fitness required to (a) show up tired, (b) show up sore, (c) go out too fast, or (d) race off the roads.

A Catch-22 that I am sure I'm not the first to face.

With a terribly sluggish (and brutally hot) 5 on ODC being my only miles on Monday, my week was already in the red. This adds in a new dimension -- with a race on Sunday, I am already chasing mileage for the week. Still though, on Lucas' warning that Saturday will have "quite the elevation change" I made yesterday's workout into A Mountain mile repeats. This was a staple workout for me last Spring and I think it delivered for the period I was including it in my training. Also it may have been solely responsible for my injury -- who knows. And while I would have preferred to hit the V, the A Mountain workout is just far more convenient and that carries a lot of weight around here.

A Mountain did quite a little number on me and so I used yesterday afternoon as well as this morning as recovery efforts. This evening's Group Run should get me geared up for another effort tomorrow. I had originally planned to go out the V after my classes but reconsidered for fear that it might have an outside shot at leaving me sore at the line on Sunday. This sounds like a real conservative standpoint to take, but remember that when I did the V about a month ago, it left me doing 5 mile hobbles for the next two days -- and each was worse than the run before it. Also, I still have the issue of chasing miles. So I've scheduled an AM visit to Tumamoc in hopes of getting in a longer run with a difficult middle portion that pretty much completely spoils the return trip home.

Friday is still up in the air but I'd like to use it to get in a couple miles at race pace to get comfortable. I did this with some 800m sections on ODC before the Sun Run and I found it beneficial. However, with ODC being worked on (and blocked off), I may have to find somewhere else to work on the old speed'n'turnover. Saturday will then be an easy 5 at Reid to stretch 'em out before racing on Sunday. I hope to end the week in the 60 range and have a moderate-at-worst Sunday performance.

Still time to sign up for the Mud Run -- Valentine's Day 5 Miler -- Sentinel Peak