Pittsburgh Marathon Training: Week 18

One of my favorite times of the year has finally arrived - race week!  Runners will begin to descend on the city of bridges for all the different race adventures that await them.  As this week begins, it's still a little crazy to think that 18 weeks ago, the process had just begun.

Monday: 3 Miles - Today started a very hectic week with lots of things happening around the house.  The wife needed some time to finish up the cake for her cousin's wedding (the cake turned out amazing!) meaning I had the peanut for my run.  As we started out, the sky above looked pretty ominous mirroring the forecast of rain for the day.  And as you can expect, we were about a half mile into the warm-up when the heavens let loose.  While peanut stayed perfectly dry in her stroller, dad was not so lucky.  I decided to head back home accepting that this run may just have to be on the treadmill.  Lo and behold, by the time I climbed the hill and reached the driveway, the rain had stopped.  Go figure!  In already being wet and the little one still sound asleep, we headed back out to finish the workout.  With my knee still tender, we kept a very conservative pace as we enjoyed the smell of spring after a fresh rain.

Someone was clearly not bothered by the rain

At least we got a rainbow!

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: 4 Miles - Today was my last run before race weekend.  Maybe it was only having one rest day since the last workout, but my knee just wasn't having any of it.  Tight and sore, I hobbled along the miles attempting to just finish them as best as possible.  I knew that the next few days would be all about rest and I was gambling on that being just what I needed.

Thursday: Rest Day

Friday: Expo Volunteering - I can think of no better way to get into the spirit of race weekend than spending it volunteering at the Expo.  While I had spent last year assisting with packet pick-up, this year I wanted a more active role of helping runners get ready for the weekend - race info table it was!  I felt like I was really helping people to ease their nerves and prepare them for all the fun to come. For the record, the most popular question of the night: So where is the best place to park?

Saturday: Pittsburgh Marathon 5K - In being one of those crazy people who thinks the Steel Challenge (running a 5K today and another race tomorrow) sounds like fun, I headed downtown to meet up with friends for the race.  I planned to keep things easy knowing that 26.2 miles awaited me tomorrow.  In the end, I decided to run with my friend Mike, helping him to reach a new PR for the distance.  Afterward, we headed to the Expo to walk around for a while more before parting ways.  

Sunday: Pittsburgh Marathon - Check out my race recap for all the gritty details!

Wow, still hard to believe it's all over.  Going forward, I'll be spending a few weeks recovering and giving some thought to what I want to accomplish next.  Thank you for following along on this journey!

Happy running!
Sean