Mon: midday: 23m - 21m easy, last 2m @ 5:44.
Tues: am: 14.2m very easy, but hilly. A little tired at the end.
pm: 6.1m jog.
Wed: midday: 6.2m jog.
pm: 12m - wu+strides, then 2 x {1200m, 1200m, 1600m} @ 10k (recs: 1 lap, 1 lap, 2 laps), cd.
Thurs: am: 7.1m jog. Stiff.
pm: 10.6m slow.
Fri: pm: 11.1m very easy
Sat: midday: 5.2m slow
Sun: wu+strides, Half Marathon race - hilly: 74:40 - 2nd, cd.
Total: 113m.
After 8 haphazard weeks of training I was determined that this week would be better, and the result was my biggest mileage week since pre-knee-op (so in well over 2 years).
Workout was supposed to be 10k pace (it was actually my first time on a track for almost a year - I'd forgotten how bouncy they are!), so I figured on 80s per lap (that was my 10k pace 8 weeks ago, but I've lost a bit since then). Very pleased to hit: 3:54, 3:57, 5:16, 3:57, 3:58, 5:14 - basically all 79s laps, bar a 76 to start the first rep and a 77 to finish the last. It was a little more than 10k effort, but I was enjoying it, so I just rolled with it.
The Half was a bit of a lumpy affair - huge hill covering the first 2m and a nice rise over miles 10-12, with some undulations throughout, plus a slight headwind from about 8 on.
I was in 3rd at 8m, about 15s down on 2nd and assuming I wouldn't catch him as the gap had been pretty constant from about 3m. At 8.5m I saw him glance around and realised he was struggling. I caught him at 9m and passed him. He came with me, so I put in a surge. I left him come back to me, and as he regained touch and just after he settled onto the back of me to recover, I put in a longer, more sustained (and really bloody painful) surge and managed to gap him. It cost me a few seconds over the last few miles, but worthwhile as if he had managed to stay with me on that one I'm not sure I had anything left.
First place was a (soon to be) double Olympian, who is running the marathon for Sri Lanka (over 7mins up the road!), and there were also 2 female Olympian marathoners a bit behind (one GB, one Chilean).
Because my conversion is in the double + 3-5mins range, this race, run flat-out, gives a good indication of current marathon pace for me. If I shift a couple of the extra weight I put on over the last 2 months and manage to keep my training good for the next 11 weeks, I should be nicely set up for a sub-2:30 as a minimum at Berlin.