Sun [7mi]
     3x1mi hills/1mi flat w/800 wu/cd. warmup/cooldown=(4:37/5:29), Workout Splits, listed as downhill 800 (easy)/uphill 800/flat mile= 3:59/3:45 8:08, 4:06/3:49 8:06, 3:56/3:44 7:57.
     I wanted something to make up for the crappy hill run late last week. This was a easy to medium level effort, the downhills being recoveries. I felt alright going up the hills. Note; don't eat pineapples as your pre-run fuel.

Mon [6.5mi]
     6mi tempo fast in 45:28 (7:34 pace). Splits: 7:34, 7:33, 7:30, 7:56, 7:25, 7:27. +5min cooldown
Absolutely beautiful weather. It's been just about 20-30 degrees except for a couple days since I started training and today it was about 50 and sunny. I was in a bit of a bad mood when I started the run, but the weather was just amazing and I started to feel real good. I didn't hold back much at all. It was a great run. Note; don't run through a puddle that you think isn't 6 inches deep.. I did.

Tue [5mi]
     5mi shakeout 57:02 (11:24) on a bit of a hilly course. I went on this course just to stop the shakeouts from being more boring... Rain started pouring hard about 2 miles in and I was soaked and real cold the rest of the way.

Wed [6.8mi]
     6.8 easy in 1:05:42 (9:39) +XT hockey.
Absolutely terrible mood + put a lot of effort into the first day of hockey in gym class (my absolute favorite activity in the world besides running). I actually went for a 9 mile long run but I was feeling awful mentally and physically. I saw no point in dragging the run on (I had slowed down from 9 min miles to a 10:30+ for the last mile.) And this is 6.8 instead of 7 because I mixed up what street to turn around on.

Thu [Off]
     The thing is, I love running. I absolutely do. When I got out of school and it was time for my workout, I didn't want to go. I absoultely did not want to go. That, along with the awful run yesterday, led me to taking the day off. I always want to go for my run. If I lose interest in running, something isn't right. I used the day to recover.

Fri [6.7mi]
     5x800m hills. (10:49wu/8:49cd). splits (downhill 800/uphill 800): (4:53) 5:27, (4:58) 5:22, (5:41) 4:57, (5:35) 4:52, (5:24) 4:17.
     Still feeling very tired physically, I decided to go out easy, complete the workout, and still have something for the next day. My uphill splits dropped 5 seconds, 25 seconds, 5 seconds, then 34 seconds. Going into the last interval, I wanted to just put whatever I had into the run, and I was amazed at how good I actually felt. In the midst of all this exhaustion I felt great running up a tough hill.

Sat [9mi]
     9mi easy long run in 1:25:28 (9:29 pace). I felt better at the start of the run today that I have since Monday's 6, which means my body has finally recovered from that. (whereas, the last few days I'd been feeling tired before I even started running). I wanted to go on the easier side today, and while I went slower than I had wanted to, I'm satisfied with the workout. I'm happy to have gotten out and done the 9 at an acceptable pace.

Week Totals: 41 miles in 6:26:53.

Note: I'm not sure about that time total, I didn't care enough to double check it.

Okay the major lesson from this week is to not go all out on a 6 mile tempo run and cut off 2:10 from your previous 6 mile fastest run. Also, don't go all out in gym when your body and mind is already exhausted. I had two disasterous days (cutting the 9 down to 7 and taking the unscheduled day off.) Then there were 4 easy/low quality days, and there was the 6.

This is my first real experience with overtraining (aside from going high intensity just about every day during my freshman indoor season. It was scary to think that I once wasn't looking forward to my run. I have to get my mileage up for college, but I'm going to make sure I do it safely and not go so damn hard when I'm not supposed to. I have to remember to be sensible because it's not like before when I did low mileage; if I was sore after a hard workout, it'd be about 3 miles worth of running and no matter how hard I went I'd be recovered enough to keep going at it the rest of the week. However, now that I'm doing 40+mpw, I can't be stupid like that. I can't go and do an all out tempo 6 and expect my future workouts not to be compromised. I have a better feel for my body though and I'm sure I won't run into any serious overtraining problems again.

Next week is race week and I feel that with how easy I've been going I might be recovered enough to get in some Goal Pace workouts. It's pretty much an easy week with the focus being on pace, recovery, and the race. I think I've improved myself so much the past three weeks that the best thing is not to get greedy this week, and rather focus on making it to race day 100% without being tired.