Akron Marathon Training: Week 14

With this week of training, I hit the official one month mark until the Akron Marathon.  I've also reached the quintessential workout of any marathon training  - the 22 mile long run.  Because this week held a run I had never done before, I knew things would be interesting.

Monday: Rest Day

Tuesday: 8 Miles - I've gotten into the habit doing my long recovery run at the beginning of the week.  It allows me to know that the remainder of the week I will be spending a little less time on the roads.  I was pretty happy with my pace and felt decent for the duration of the workout.

Wednesday: 4 Miles - In being slightly nervous about the long run at the end of the week and always seeming to pull something when I do speed work, I decided to still do the total distance for the workout but run it at a comfortable pace.  I was also in the process of breaking in a new pair of Brooks Ravenna 7's.

Thursday: 4 Miles - I slowed this recovery run slightly so it was more in line with what my training plan suggested.  One of my big tendencies is not treating workouts for what they are intended to be.  By dialing the pace back a bit, I knew I would benefit from the easy miles.

Friday: 4 Miles - As I began this run, a thought occurred to me - my rest days were probably not the best planned for the week.  Especially in leading up to my long run, I probably should not have run for four straight days before it.  On the other hand, the lack of a break meant that I'd be running 26 miles within a 24 hour period, which may work to my benefit.  I'll know soon enough if it was!

Saturday: 22 Miles - The workout that I had heard the most about from marathon veterans had finally arrived - the longest run of the training cycle.  I had spent the week thinking about where I would run knowing that I needed both access to water fountains and a good bit of shade.  After tossing around a few ideas, I ended up just staying local since I knew where I could get water as well as was close to home in case the workout turned south.  Overall, the miles went really well!  By the time I finished, my legs were a bit worse for wear but I felt great.  This run gave me the confidence that I can go 26.2 and maybe even clock a decent time.

Sunday: Rest Day

Starting next week the taper takes over.  I'm sure I'll be feeling the "taper crazies" but I will also be able to get a little extra sleep (which has been in a bit of short supply since the little one came).  As these last weeks tick away, I'll also be trying out some new nutrition routines to see what will work best for race day.  I'm thinking that even if the weather is great, GI issues can sabotage all the hard work.  No plans to let that happen!

Happy running!
Sean