The Tatted Runner: marathon training week 15 recap

That is it, I am all done. Thursday and Friday is nothing but rest and stretching for me and Saturday will be my travel and expo day. Thank you all for following along on my journey to twenty six point two miles. No matter what the out come is on Sunday, the training was an experience all its own. I have to say I have learned a lot about myself, and what I can accomplish when drive and determination is fueling it.

Sunday:

34 cold ass degrees this morning and with everything that went on yesterday I really wanted to get some rest. I slept in and then spent some time with Mandy, Jedi & Widdle before I headed to work. I figured I could get my run in when I get home.
I got out of work at a decent time which allowed me to get home and get the lawn mowed before I got my run in. The weather was a perfect mid 50s with some cloud cover and barely any wind. Tonight is my last race pace and longest run until the marathon. I headed out and almost instantly new this was going to be a great run. I had a spring in my step and my legs felt strong. As the run went on I just felt better and better. The last mile I pushed it just a little and when I hit the last quarter mile I visualized running to the finish line and kicked it out to the end.

Monday:

Well my second to last run is in the books. It was pretty warm out for 5am, more like spring than fall weather. I think what made it feel so warm was the humidity. We had rain come through last night so it was a damp sticky mess out there. The run itself went pretty well despite my legs felt a little tired at the beginning. Once I got 3/4 of a mile in they loosened up and the run seemed to get smoother. Pace was pretty rock solid at where I wanted to be except for mile three. I really didn't want to push the pace that hard but I think subconsciously my body has learned to add a little to the last mile and I think that is what happened here.

Tuesday:

Today is a rest day for me. My plan all week is to do some stretching in the morning and in the evening so I can keep my body loose. One more short run tomorrow and that is it until Sunday!

Wednesday:

On this morning’s run, I wanted to keep it nice, light and easy. Thankfully the weather cooperated with me and gave me some real nice conditions to run in. The temps were in the low to mid 50s with practically zero wind and no rain in sight. We have had a lot of rain the past couple days and even last night, so when I headed out it was quite wet out. The storms also made for a lot of tree debris to dodge on the bike path. Since I wanted to keep things nice and easy I kept my pace right around the ten minute per mile mark. I didn’t want to “burn myself out” by going to fast, but I wanted to give my legs a chance to stretch out and get loose. I felt fine, but I didn’t feel like I had that spring in my step like I had on my Sunday run. I will say that I had zero fatigue in my legs despite the fact that I was only doing a three miler. When I got back I did my usual stretches and I wanted to get in one more round of push ups so all I would have to do the next three days is relax and do some light stretching to stay loose. Currently I am at 60 reps that I would normally do in three sets of 20, but this time I switched it up and did two sets of 30 reps.