Playing Catchup

I tried so hard last week to blog but it just wasn't happening. I hate when I get into those ruts. I have things to say but never have the time to spew them from my brain. Here a few things going on:

1. Peachtree Road Race--July 4th tradition with 55,000 of my closest friends. After five (?) years of running this race, I think I am officially over it. I didn't have a good time this year. I am tired of the out of shape, nonrunners getting seeded positions only to not hold an 8 min mile in the fast group.

Anyways, I treated it like a hard tempo run. I ran a 44:24 (7:05 pace). That was about what I expected. I feel like I never pushed hard in the race and was in complete control.

2. Cold Front in July? Despite the sauna like weather this summer, the holiday weekend was actual...well cool. I spent Saturday in the mountains where is was border line chilly. I actually saw people with jackets. I miss riding in the mountains and need to get up there more often. I am becoming fearless again on the descents--even on the tri bike.

3. Chattanooga--No go. I forgot to register, got put on the waitlist and secretly hoped they wouldn't email me. I was feeling run down last week so I made the right decision and didn't second guess doing the race. Just graciously bowed out and focused a bit more on recovery.

4. FTP Tests--For the first time in AGES, I retested my FTP this past week. Ultimate fail. I probably should have recovered a bit more because I was beat when I tested. At the same time, I have had trouble scheduling time to do this test so I wanted to get it over with. Results? 20 minute power went down but 5 minute power went up. What does it mean? Hell if I know, lol. Likely I need to do one of two things. Accept the results and then find some hills to ride because I like muscular endurance, or retest the 20 min portion when I am feeling more fresh.

5. Running Volume is going well. This past week, I only hit 19 miles and that was likely the result of the added fatigue from the 10k on Sunday and two bike tests. My legs weren't happy. For the past 4 weeks, I have averaged 24 miles a week. That is my highest 4 week average since the offseason of 08 where I did a run focus. My goal is to consistently get 180 minutes of running in each week. That gets me above 20. IMO, frequency is the key. But I can't let go of speed.