Tough Twelve

Wow. Yesterday was a tough twelve miles. The weather was perfect (sunny, mid 60's, a slight breeze). Everything started out well. I was keeping my speed down in the 10:20 to 10:30 range (that was tough itself). Everything was going great, right up to mile 10 1/2. All of a sudden the concrete in my legs set and my lower back just went into fatigue mode. Literally, over a quarter mile I went from "All Systems Go" to "Danger Will Robinson!" Breathing and heart rate were just fine - it was the physical systems that went haywire. I really struggled to finish. Final stats - 12 miles, 10:50 average pace at 75% MHR.

After the run, I hit up my training load graph, and sure enough, fatigue is spiking. I'll listen and start reducing my training load over the next week. I'm *not* at all concerned about being able to put in 13.1 miles on race day. I *am* concerned about starting a race when my body is fatigued. Today I'll knock off a couple miles from my planned six mile recovery run. And I'll scale back my modified Higdon Training plan over the next week. I'm coming down the home stretch!