"C'est La Vie"

Lakefront is 6 weeks from today.  As planned I ran a 25K on the track at marathon pace.  For a change I felt fairly fresh.  Part of the reason is I did take a complete rest day on Friday.  I had tweaked my right hamstring (this is my achilles heel) the day before on Thursday.  I ran a moderate effort (though it was tough) w/ 10.5 miles a 7:57 pace and on the very last step when I stopped I felt that all to familiar pull.  I thought it best to get in there and break up the adhesions and give it an extra day to heal.  Turned out to be a good decision.  Also the rain did not happen as forecasted and I was able to run at 6am with overcast skies and temps in the mid 60s.  There was a bit of wind, but it actually felt refreshing.  The plan was simple; start out slower than the 20k three weeks ago and try and get in a groove.  I thought I did a fairly good job and never struggled.  My slowest miles are typically when I am trying to take in calories or fluids.  My lower legs began to stress rapidly after 20k.  I believe part of that is running in the flats which I am trying to bone up on.  Aerobically it was an effort for sure, but the main item again is getting my legs used to running in less shoe.  Here are the 5k splits: (7:10 pace)

22:15
22:26
22:19
22:14
22:09

I have one 3 week cycle left and finish off with a 30k on the track in 3 more Sundays.  Then it is the 3 week taper.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on not pushing my legs beyond what they are capable of which basically means don't decide to go Chaka Khan with the Flintstones auto all of the sudden.

8/9 - 11.0 (7:52) moderate w/ 0.5 c/d (train)
8/10 - 11.0 (7:57) moderate
8/11 - 6.1 (9:57) easy, Dewey/Tim at Menomonee Park
8/12 - 11.0 (7:58) moderate
8/13 - 23.0 (8:26) moderate
8/14 - OFF
8/15 - 8.0 (9:54) easy
8/16 - 10.0 (10:57) easy, Dean/Andrea at Minooka
8/17 - 10.0 (8:21) moderate
8/18 - 9.0 w/ 8 x 880y w/ 440y jog
8/19 - 6.5 (9:15) easy, Krista at Lapham
8/20 - 10.5 (7:57) moderate, Tweaked Right Hammy
8/21 - OFF
8/22 - 6.0 (9:54) easy
8/23 - 18.0 w/ 25k in 1:51:23 (7:10)