Tired a month out

Today's long run was not that great. I was planning to run between 16-17 miles, and that's what I did. However, right before 15 I decided that I'd be aiming for the lesser range. Then a half-mile later, I wanted to stop because I was overcome with a wave of exhaustion. I don't know. I ate this morning, had a GU pre-run and after 8 miles. I was sweating plenty (didn't seem dehydrated), and I was running just under 7-minute pace. I'm just tired. The past 2 days I've felt tired waking up. I've already run 7 times this week and have 63 miles in. I'm just tired I guess.

Also, my legs are hurting. My left one has been sore now for a couple of days. I had Abel Shaw work on it yesterday and it felt better, but then running with Jeff in the afternoon didn't do it any good. It was probably more painful today than it was on Tuesday for my hill workout (6 sets each of 45, 90, 45). It was sore then, but not like today. I need to spend some time with the foam roller and some ice, and I'm getting a massage today. But it appears as though this will likely be the peak of my summer mileage. I anticipate 90 this week. If I do 14-15 on Sunday at Hartwood (10 mile race plus warmup/cool down), then I only need 13-14 miles between Friday and Saturday. That's doable after averaging 16 miles a day the last 4.

I didn't plan to be hitting 90 a few weeks ago, although that was my goal at the beginning of the summer. I was running 80's and exhausted, so I told Greg I didn't see much point in trying to push it up for no reason. But it's just sort of happened naturally. My last 5 weeks have been 80+, progressing 2-3 miles a week, so it's not like it was a big jump. I just wish school weren't starting so that I could stay here for a few more weeks. I'm really disappointed that I'm not running Chicago over Columbus Day weekend. This base training would have been absolutely perfect for a marathon in the early fall. I could drop my mileage down to the low 70's and just focus on marathon-pace workouts for the next 6 weeks. Now I've got to "waste" it all on a stupid half-marathon. I HATE the half-marathon distance. Largely because I've been so unsuccessful with it. Oh well... that's what I get for trying to sign up late. I'll sign up for Chicago on opening day for 2012, or if I qualify for the top-100 again, I'll email them opening day.

On to Hartwood. Hopefully I don't leave that place feeling depressed heading into my tapering. Philly is one month away.

My week thus far:

Monday: AM - 12 alone faster, PM - 4 alone at home

Tuesday: AM - 11 Hills with Justin and Jimmy, PM - 4 alone at home slower than Monday

Wednesday: AM - 9 very slow with Js before finishing alone, PM - 6 with Jeff on the Canal and Quarry

Thursday: AM - 16 long run easy, PM - Core at the YMCA (anticipated)

Garmin Connect - Details