Marathon Training Update Week 14 – Everything Went Wrong

What a week. Originally I’d planned to have lots of gorgeous photos of the beautiful Autumn leaves in Vermont, where we were spending the weekend. I was planning on one, maybe two runs while we were up there. Friday afternoon rolled around, Roman finished his lunch, looked at me and promptly started throwing up. Needless to say, we didn’t make it to Vermont. By Sunday morning, lucky Mama had caught the bug and I spent the day feeling sad and sorry for myself.

In terms of marathon training, I got a couple of regular runs in early, one of which was an ‘As You Feel’ run. I guess I felt fast, because it was 30 seconds faster than my fastest marathon goal pace. I’ve found that using a mantra as I run really helps me maintain a steady pace, especially a fast steady pace. I spent a few miles of that run repeating, “I am strong, I am fast, I am confident, I am motivated” in my head.

LONG RUN: When Friday rolled around, I had an 11 mile ‘pseudo long run’ on the training schedule. I did it early, before my first client, but my legs still felt heavy from my fast regular run the day before. It wasn’t a successfully paced long run, but I didn’t let it worry me. I feel so good about my effort and pace on the 21 mile long run last week that I know I have the fitness and stamina to handle the marathon. Mentally, that long run gave me the ability to handle week’s like this where everything went wrong.

Something that went right was that I have finally decided to stick to Gummi Bears as my fuel source during the race. I took about 200 calories worth with me on my 11 miler and ate at mile 4, 7 and 9. It worked well for me – I think fueling a little earlier helps more that my previous technique of beginning at one hour elapsed.

I also received my number, start time and wave info, so that was super exciting! Turns out my friend Erich who is also running is in the same corral as me, so it’ll be great to have some company before the start.

This week is going to be another challenge for me, so I’m happy it’s a taper week again. I’m feeling a little weak after my illness, so I’ll skip my planned run tomorrow. Then, I have Fran’s birthday, my parents arriving from Australia to visit (!) and our wedding anniversary.

MILES FOR WEEK: 24

Have you used a mantra when running or racing?

How closely do you follow a marathon training plan during taper?