And so the taper begins! The last few weeks I’ve constantly been saying to myself just get to the last 2 weeks and you’ll be fine! The reason for this being that I’ve found the last few weeks training really tough and taxing on the body. Found myself being constantly wrecked, however about 5 weeks ago I said to myself you need to push the next few weeks and do what’s needed to run a decent marathon in Belfast and see where that leaves me. I’ve probably been right on the edge of doing enough or maybe doing too much. And I know some seasoned marathon runners reading this blog over the last few weeks might not think I’m running a ridiculous amount of mileage but considering 6 weeks ago I ran a total of 15 miles for 7 days worth of training and the subsequent increase in volume and intensity since then, I’ve felt as though I’ve been right on the edge but sometimes that’s where you need to be. Happy with the last few weeks training and happy with my own application and perseverance but now I need to freshen up and be ready to give everything I have in less than 2 weeks. Solid weeks training again this week as you can see below:
Weekly Recap:
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 7.11 miles – 56.12
Wednesday: 6 miles – 48.18
Thursday: 3.3 miles WU – 10k Tempo 33.45 – 2 mile CD
Friday: AM: 4 miles – 32.20 – PM: 5.13 miles – 38.59
Saturday: 4 miles – 31.02
Sunday: 18.3 miles – 2.07.01
Following the longest run in this build up the previous Saturday needed a bit of time to get over that and didn’t include another faster session in my plan till Thursday. For Thursday’s session linked in with the Dublin Track Club for this. Feidhlim their coach had kindly invited me to jump into their sessions quite a while ago but with various niggles and trying to focus on some marathon specific efforts I couldn’t join in till last week. Really enjoyable session and it really got across to me the importance of a group. This doesn’t have to mean everyone running at the same paces and efforts but just a group of runners working together and encouraging each other! Hope to link in more with the group post Belfast Marathon. The session itself went really well and probably surprised myself a bit running 10k in 33.45 and feeling relatively good at this pace 😊
Few easy runs were on the menu following the 10k effort to get over it and freshen up the legs before just over 18 miles yesterday with Paul. I have ran 2 previous marathons and both times the long run 2 weeks out has always felt like a grind. Because the plan was to run 18 miles and considering I have ran 4 runs @ 20 miles or over in the weeks preceding this I probably didn’t really pay too much respect to an 18 mile long run and purposefully didn’t want to push too fast. Therefore this run like in previous marathon builds up just felt like a grind and not really that enjoyable. By 12 miles into it just wanted to get it done and move on!
So into the taper period, so I’ll attempt another mini session towards the end of the week before a 90 min run on Sunday 7 days out. I’m taking a rest day today and will run more or less every other day this week. So one thing I wanted to get across during the taper section, its important not to stop running completely in my opinion. The main aim for me is to reduce the intensity and the volume progressively over the last 2 weeks. If you’re someone that runs for instance 5 days a week in my opinion you should continue doing this but as I said reduce the volume and intensity to allow yourself to be fresh for marathon day. I know for me if I stop running completely, I’ll lose the endorphin rush I get from running and the release it gives me and would end up just getting more stressed and nervous about the impending race and would make the whole thing bigger in my head than it needs to be. Its just a race at the end of the day 😊
As per usual cheers for reading folks and have a great week 😊
Noel
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