Recent Training (9 weeks out)

The coach in me is forever battling the obsessive runner in me. Something makes a workout fail (usually weather) and I want to make it up later in the week, when I know doing so will just make the next workouts too hard and risk injury. Belief in my plan wavers; part of me says I can't expect to run a 5 hour race if I can't run that long in training - but I know that that isn't true. I try to equate running in powdery snow or on glare ice or on indoor concrete or on asphalt while wearing three layers of clothes with running on trails in April and it just won't work. My average workouts say I can finish Chippewa in 5:00, my best workouts say 4:45, my worst 5:15... for me, that's reassuringly consistent.

Feb 9:  9 in 79.5 with 5 in 40:24. Windy.
Feb 10: 10 in 98 with 10 sprints (a few seconds each). Hard on quads. Froze hands and neck; took a long time to reheat in warm water afterward and then I was shivering.
Feb 11: 6 in 58 with 6x100m at 1 mile pace. Very bad footing (ice and snowdrifts). Sore left sartorius.
Feb 12: 5 in 40.5 with 2 fast (7:30 pace), 0.5 easy, 1.5 fast. Feet got wet and cold, so I cut short what was to be 12-14 miles.
Feb 13: 6 in 52.5 with 6x100m at 1 mile pace. Not bad.
Feb 14: 17 in 2:29 indoors (5 in 41:43, 5 in 38:51, 5 in 48:21, 2 in 19:34). Died. Had something in shoe that bothered me. Right heel hurt after.
Feb 15: 0 (intentional)
Feb 16: 11 in 110.5 with 22 repeats of Indian Mounds Hill (2200 feet total climb). One patch of ice to navigate each way. Sunny, pleasant, easy run.
Feb 17: 8 in 74 with 10 sprints
Feb 18: 6 in 55 with 6x100m at 1 mile pace
Feb 19: 15 indoors in 2:06 with 4x1500m (7:05 pace) - 600m (9:00 pace). Very difficult. Required a short break after second interval and a long break after the 4th. (5 miles in 43:06, 5 in 36:32, 5 in 46:17) Right heel hurt afterward.
Feb 20: 0 Could've run, but didn't feel like it.
Feb 21: 9 in 76 ending with 2x2.5 miles fast (7:30-8:00 pace) - 1 mile recovery. Difficult toward end, as not recovered from Tuesday. Coughing a bit after.
Feb 22: 2 in 19.5. Felt awful - right after eating.
Feb 23: 20 in 3:07 with last 5 in 43. Feeling a bit tired and weak at 15, so had a banana and a pint of water before doing the hard bit. [Yes, 20 miles on 100 calories and no fluids or electrolytes for 15]
Feb 24: 10 in 94.5 with 10 sprints. A bit tough toward the end.

This needs a photo.