You can’t run a good marathon without putting in the necessary legwork. With just two weeks to go before our next marathon, the toughest legwork is behind us for me and my wife. I just hope it’s enough for a good race for both of us.
We both had our longest training runs last weekend. I ran a little more than 24 miles. Carolyn ran 26. We were supposed to start dialing back after that, but each of us did something a little tougher than the usual tapering this past weekend. I ran 8 miles at 30 seconds a mile faster than my marathon goal pace (7 1/2-minute miles compared to 8-minute goal pace). Carolyn ran a 5K race at her usual 5K pace, then ran 5 miles after that.
I wanted to get in one more tough training run before easing up. It was tough. These next couple of weeks I’ll just run three 4-mile pace runs and an easy 8-mile run next Saturday. No more heavy straining in this training season.
I did do a little extra training this season – some lap swimming and a toning exercise class. I should be better conditioned for this race.
It’s been a tough season. We’ve had some brutally hot weather and a couple of heavy rainstorms. I’ve battled my most significant injury, a milder form of plantar fasciitis. After this marathon and a half-marathon in early November, I plan on taking a few months off from running.
I’m not sure what to expect from this marathon, Steamtown in Scranton, Pa. It’s supposed to be a fast course, if you don’t start too fast. I’ll be aiming for three hours and 30 minutes, 14 minutes faster than my personal record. This time I’ll have someone running with me from my training pace group. That should help a lot, especially those last 6.2 miles.
Two weeks from today, it’ll all be finished. We’ll find out if all of that legwork has paid off.
Good luck with the run!