Marathon Training Week 5

My training plan for the week was cross-train, run 3, 6, and 3 miles, rest, 6 mile run, and 12 mile long run. I had a 10K race on Monday, so that threw this week off a bit.

Sunday - rest day, unless you consider walking a bit to be cross-training
Monday - 4th of July 6.2 mile race. Harvard Pilgrim 10K at Patriot Place. Fun times. Hot and humid. It was supposed to be my pace run from last week. Yeah, not quite. I ran slightly slower than my marathon goal pace, but that's OK. Hot means slow down. You have to be realistic with your expectations. I still set a 10K PR and I finished feeling good. I decided it was better to go slower and feel good than go faster and feel sick. Smart choice. I definitely see the value of slowing down in hot weather. Did some pushups and calf raises in the evening.
Tuesday - 3.8 mile run, plus lunges, abs, and back. Pretty comfortable for a July morning. Did a couple of planks in the evening. I need to find a new plank song because I held one for the entire length of More by Usher. That's 3 minutes 40 seconds. Holy schnikes. NEVER thought I could do that.
Wednesday - 3.7 mile run, plus upper body exercises and squats with the 12kg kettlebells. Nice run in pleasant temps before it got hot. The kettlebells don't hurt my arms and hands anymore. Maybe it is because I started wearing my lifting gloves, I figured out how to hold the kettlebells, or my arms are stronger. Or all of the above.
Thursday - Rest day.
Friday - 6.2 mile run on the treadmill. I was all ready to head out the door. Had my housekey and Garmin in my hands. And then it started thunderstorming. I knew there was rain on the way, but I didn't know the rain was a thunderstorm. Crazy runner? Yes. Stupid runner? No. So I put the Garmin away, grabbed my iPod, Nike+, water bottle, and towel, and headed to the gym instead. I ran faster than my 10K race the other day, but that's one of the advantages of running in a climate-controlled gym. Or maybe because I ate the lonely shot blok leftover from last weekend about halfway through.
Saturday - 12.3 mile run in 1:43. Alone. Without the iPod. It went so splendidly well. 6 miles out and back on the East Bay Bike Path. I took everything that has gone wrong over the last several weeks and learned from it. Got out early enough so that it wasn't too hot. Hydrated enough. Ate 3 shot bloks early enough in my run. Didn't overheat. There was a slight headwind when I turned around. The sun was fairly cooperative in hiding behind clouds on my way back. Dropped my pace the last 3 miles because that is what Hal Higdon told me to do if I still felt good. Oh yeah, I was feeling great. It was one of those runs where I felt great the whole time.

Total Miles: Scheduled - 30, Actual - 32.2