Mar 21-27

Mon: 9M easy
Tue: AM - 5M easy; PM - 14M including 20 x 1' fartlek w/ 1' rec at brisk pace  (19 tot)
Wed: AM 4.5M easy;  PM - 13.3M easy  (17.8M tot)
Thu: AM - 5M easy;  PM - 10.4M easy  (15.4M tot)
Fri: 15.3M including 10M steady state/tempo in 56:31 - 5:39 pace
Sat: 8.7M easy
Sun: 20.2M Fast-Finish Long Run; first 12 miles @ 6:40 pace then last 8M @ 5:43 pace

Weekly Total: 105 miles on 10 runs/ 7 days
It was my last hard week of training and now it's time to start the peaking period for Rotterdam.  The training week went very well. I only ran once on Monday so that the legs would have a bit more recovery after last Sunday's 24-miler.  Tuesday was a fartlek workout of 20 x 1' at slightly faster than 5k effort. My legs felt a little heavy early in the run, but better as the workout progressed.  Wed and Thu were easy runs of 90 and 70 minutes respectively, each were preceded with an easy 30'+ run to work.  Friday's workout was a strength-building workout, a 10 mile Steady State run, in which I turned into a tempo run because I was feeling good.  After a 20' minute warm-up I started the steady state run at 5:38-5:40 pace and pretty much maintained the pace for the entire run.  I ran the 10M steady state/tempo in 56:31 (5:39 pace), certainly my fastest 10 miler as a training run. Sunday was a fast-finish long run and dress rehearsal for the marathon.  I ran 20 miles, the first 12 miles easy at 6:40 pace and then finished the last 8 miles (13K to be exact) in 46:09, an avg pace of 5:43 (3:33/km).  I'm extremely happy with this fast-finish long run, especially considering the I only had one easy day following Friday's workout.

Jan 3-9

Mon: 8.7M easy
Tue:  10M including 12 x 200m (32-33") w/ 200m rec jog
Wed: 13.2M easy
Thu: 10M easy
Fri: 15M including 45' steady-state run in the middle of the run
Sat: 8.4M easy
Sun: 15.8M long run

Weekly Total: 81 miles on 7 runs/7 days
I had three good quality sessions this week: 200s on Tue, a 45' steady-state on Fri and a steady long run today.  The steady state on Fri was a tough run, not necessarily because of the pace but because of the duration of the run.  The effort and pace was about right. I started out around marathon pace for the first 10 minutes and then settled in at close to half-marathon pace for the remainder of the run.  This morning's long run (6:38 pace) went very well as I ran practically the same route as last week and finished 3 minutes faster. I could certainly tell that my fitness is improving, especially when the pace for my easy runs are faster with the same effort.