A "cutback" week, sorta

This last week was my first easy week of my new and intense training plan for St George. Basically, that means there was no weights and no 2-a-days. However, after letting my long run last Saturday slide, I really wanted to squeeze in 21 miles of running between Monday and Friday so I could still end July on a double-century total (and I did, 100.7 miles running, 142 miles biking). And since I let that aforementioned long run slide last Saturday, I figured I'd tack it on to the end of my easy week, so I did 18 yesterday.

First, the July recap:

Running:
100.7 miles
17:34:40
avg pace: 10:29

Biking:
142.0 miles
9:35:10
avg speed: 14.8 mph

Total weight training
2:25:00

Approx 2800 yards swimming.

Total time exercising: 32h 19min 26sec

Not bad.

Yesterday's 18 miler was really good. I tried Clif Shot Blocks for a change, cola flavor. I really like them. The deal is that 3 shot blocks are the approximate equivalent to one gel. So I took a shot block every 2 miles, and it worked out really well. I didn't feel like bonking at all. In fact, I felt rather strong the whole way. The last 2 miles of my route were uphill, and they were the only 2 miles where I was below an 11 minute pace. Average pace for the run was 10:49. If I can hold that pace for St George, I'll be very very happy. That would be a 4:43 marathon, or a 20 minute PR. I took 18 minutes off of my first marathon PR in my second, and 14 minutes off my PR in my third marathon. If I can PR by even 5 minutes I'm going to be thrilled -- 20 would be incredible. I am training my guts out, so hopefully it pays off.

Oh, and I'm down to 198 lbs. too. I'm hoping 200 is in the rearview mirror for good, and continues to fade.