Hangin' Tough,Diggin' Deep

I'm happy to sit here and report that I did complete a 5 day/65mpw but it was far from easy......but then again as I always say if Marathons were easy everyone would be running them!
Here's a play by play of the week that was.

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday:12 miles
Any questions about my committment to "the cause" were hopefully answered today as I stuck both fingers up to the fact Accu Weather were predicting a 60% chance of rain between 5pm and 6pm as I kicked off the week w/ a 1.38.29 12 miler off of 8.13 mile pace
Ever the Boy Scout I was prepared for the fact it was widely predicted there would be rain so I swopped bandanna for baseball cap,shades for regular glasses and sleeveless for short sleeves.
For the opening 3.5-4 miles this looked to have been an error on my part as I was sweating buckets under grey and overcast skies and humidity.....and then the heavens opened to the point I removed my glasses as seeing out of them was near impossible.

Wednesday :13 miles
Kinda churlish to talk about a "season's best" over 13 miles but having begun the season w/ a 1.58 plus for 13 miles and then lowered that to 1.53.07 on June 4th the bar was in fairness set somewhat low that said Wednesdays 1.48.03 off of 8.18 mile pace was at least a step in the right direction.
If Tuesdays 12 miler had seen me go off too quick and go into survival mode I at least got my pacing right from the get go to log a 13 miler,only my third of this cycle but in order to go after 15 milers I need to get comfortable over 13 miles first......

Thursday:12 miles
Hot and humid,granted it's not the typical "Dog Days" that August can and have thrown up but throw in that last week my 12 milers more or less came from 9.15am starts this week I was getting up at 5.25am,putting in a full day at work where I'm on my feet  most of if not all day  b4 coming home around 4.30pm/4.45pm and going right back out to run.
Early on I felt I was having to dig deep and be mentally tough as well as physically,where was this mental and physical toughness in May,June and my lone run in July?
The further out along Kelly Dr I went the further back I was gonna have to walk home if I "bonked", I took each mile one at a time willing myself to the next mile marker and somehow reached the finishline in front of my appartment in 1.43.33 off of 8.37,the fact I finished was a moral victory.

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday:13 miles
Aided by the fact I was able to sleep till 8 am b4 heading out around 9.20am may go a ways to explaining my 1.47.26 off of 8.16 mile pace
I never thought for a split second I was going to "crush" these 12 & 13 milers but untill such a time I feel comfortable w/ them I will have to hold off on upping them to 15 milers,if I can go from 60mpw to 65mpw this week and again next week.....yeah,yeah yeah"if my Aunt had balls she'd be my Uncle" then at this point I feel upping my weekly mileage to 70mpw will be prudent b4 I tackle 75mpw,eventually 15 milers will be my "bread & butter" runs w/ the Sunday long run going,16,18,20 as I look to raise my weekly mpw to 76,78 and 80 b4 eventualy working my taper down the scale and while "big trees grow from little acorns" I have to feel comfortable at 12 & 13 miles b4 15 miles becomes my "distance du jour".......

Sunday:15 miles
Stop the goddamn presses!!! 15 miler in 2.00.42 off of 8.02 pace!!!!
Off of yesterdays 1.47.26 I figured 2.06 was respectable today if not w/in my reach,was it the fact I got up at 6am and was out the door by 6.30am when conditions were a delightful 68/69 degrees that I came close to going sub 2.00 right off the bat?
Was it my Kenyan running vest that inspired a Rift Valley/Maasai Warrior performance? fucked if I know but the fact is I felt I crushed this run
Cooler conditions for sure were a help,I could see me getting up at 6am again on the weekends to get my run/runs in to accomodate my Philly Spurs/Broad & Hotspur commitments
My mile splits were:7.47-7.41-8.39-8.07-8.16-8.11-8.09-8.07-8.02-8.00-7.58-7.53-8.03-8.04-7.44
Where as most of the week on the second half of my runs I've felt I've gone into "survival mode" today as the numbers back up I went into"fuck it I'm having some of this" mode
Vintage Shamrock Warrior"? prehaps too soon to tell,maybe the planets joined up in a "perfect storm" and I got lucky or maybe after grinding it out all week and grittin' my teeth and diggin' deep I got rewarded either way I am looking forward to the coming week,and more importantly next Sunday,as I type my Kenyan running vest is soaking in the bathroom sink but trust me I will be throwing it on at 6.30am next Sunday in the hope of more of the same........
#palekenyan
#shamrockwarrior