Training Run

Time: 45 min
Distance: 8 kilometers

Comments: And somehow I made it through the week. I thought for sure the forces of evil would conspire to bring my training efforts to a halt but I got through the regular runs in relatively good shape.Today, though, was nothing fancy. Started slow, stayed slow. Dissociated as much as humanly possible. I just gritted my teeth and got it done with. Now, I rest and take on the last big bad boy before the taper.

Training Run

Time: 55 min
Distance: 10 kilometers

Comments: This is clearly survival week. I'm getting out there and getting the miles in but they are not very pretty. And the aftermath is brutal. A three-hour nap yesterday. So I hit the beach today with no intention of any type of major pace and eschewing all hills and hard surfaces. Just jog the bastard. That said, I actually had enough 'umph' to crank out a halfway decent pace for most of the thing.Tomorrow is a 45 minute effort then a day off and the Sunday long run of doom. I think I can do it but, as I said to start the week, if I have to cash it in, I should still be OK to start the taper.

Training Run

Time: 65 min
Distance: 12 kilometers

Comments: Still feeling the miles. Went out slow and stayed that way. Planned on an hour and a half but decided to cut it short after 65 minutes for safety's sake. It isn't that I feel weak or unconditioned, it's just I can feel the miles adding up on me. There isn't a lot of pep in the step and the workouts are serious work at this point. On the plus side, I feel like I <i>can</i> finish these workouts if I gutted it out but I haven't had any injury problems and keeping it that way is still my priority.

Training Run

Time: 45 min
Distance: 8 kilometers

Comments: Well, yesterday turned into a real recovery day. I felt shelacked the whole day. Truck-impact bad. So I headed out with a bit of trepidation this morning. I felt better upon waking but I wasn't going to let that lull me into a false sense of security. That said, the run started slow but got into gear pretty well. By halfway I was going along at a pretty good clip and even reeled in a Peruvian that blew by me and cut every corner of the route. Lord that irks me.I planned a full hour but cut it short when it became apparent the pace I ran was a LOT faster than a recovery run. I'll pick up the difference later in the week if I can.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 14

Time: 7 hours 15 min
Distance: 72 kilometers (45 miles)

Comments: Loooong tough miles. I knew I had to put in the distance this week after the abbreviated effort the week prior and the impending race. The result was an exhaustive effort during a high-pressure period work wise. Needless to say, I'm sleeping VERY hard. The soreness and tired feeling has been constant all week but it never reached a point of pain or injury. So I kept steadily at it through the long-run. Lot of strange obstacles though, a Peruvian chased me down and tried to beat me up and twice I was attacked by dogs. In the case of the former I just walked away from the idiot in the latter, I was able to scare them off by throwing rocks. In any case, I'm ready to get out of this country for awhile.

Injury update: I am very very sore but nothing of the level of ""injury."" I felt the ominous stiffness in a few of the usual places once or twice in all the miles I, put in but never any twinge

One month till raceday... oohhhh, I can almost <i>taste</i> it now. But this week is the tough slog before the taper. I put in a ton of miles last week and I need to do that and <i>just a little bit more</i> this week.The goal this week is to pretty much do exactly the same as last week but add a bit more than a mile to the long run on Sunday - tack on fifteen minutes to be exact. The biggest difference in the approach is I feel completely ready to bail on the plan at the first hint of pain. I've gotten my one big run in, a second is cream, not a necessity.Because, as much as I am focused on the Sept. 23 race date, I have to keep my long-term goal in mind as well.

Long Run

Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
Distance: 32 kilometers

Comments: A brutal effort that really tested my ability to keep going. There wasn't anything very fancy about the effort, it was a matter of gritting my teeth and holding on to the finish. It wasn't that the run was particularly bad - in fact, I felt relatively strong and in control most of the way - but it was a lot of miles on top of a big mileage week.During the run I got passed a few times by other runners. I had to keep myself in control and maintain my pace. It was particularly difficult with one about an hour in - but I knew if I went out too hard at that point, I would suffer later. This, I think, is the key to this marathon - run my race and don't be swept up in it all. This, is good pre-race effort