I will explain the logic and method to my taper on Monday. Today’s offering will simply be an outline of the penultimate week of training before the Harrisburg Marathon on Nov. 12.
Like I wrote last week, I was not going to run 100 miles or even 90 miles two weeks out. Instead I did 88.4 miles, which makes me feel like a slacker following 14 straight 100-mile weeks.
Anyway, here’s me dialing it down:
Monday
21 miles in 2:17:08
Ran the last four miles in 23:01. The course was hilly and the effort wasn't all out, but it definitely was work. Either way, I did OK for 17 miles even though my there was something swooshing around in my stomach.
Tuesday
14.3 miles in 1:37:28
Time to dial it back.
Wednesday
10 miles in 64:30
Didn't think I was going as fast as I was, but you know...
Thursday
10 miles in 64:43
Ho-hum.
Friday
10 miles in 68:28
Stomach was a little upset and my right hip and left hamstring were achy, but the run was pretty easy.
Saturday
6 miles warmup and cool down – 5k race in 16:23.
16:23 is pretty good for me. The pace felt easy and I imagine that I could have gone faster. I would have been happy with anything under 17 because of the marathon-training mileage. Either way, it appears as if I'm in shape. I won my age group by more than 2 minutes and came in sixth place overall.
Sunday
14 miles in 1:35:26
A nice easy run despite some discomfort with my stomach. After learning that stomach issues messed up Meb Keflezighi and Alan Culpepper in New York today, I have to be very, very careful with what I eat this week. Nonetheless, the run was easy and uneventful. It would have been much more fun if my stomach was better.