Week 15 wasn't a taper week in my training schedule. If I had run all of the scheduled runs, I would have logged 30-36 miles, slightly less than the week before, but the intensity of the workouts was still there. Instead, I struggled to get the training in -- some of it was out of my hands, but some of it was just lack of motivation.
Monday: I did not run on Monday. I had an optional short easy run scheduled but I was sore from Saturday's long run, so I decided to let it go.
Tuesday: Every week, I have one run that is marked as a "must-do". It has always been either the weekend long run or sometimes a speed workout. This week, it was Tuesday's 5-6 miles at an easy pace. I guess the most important thing was to get my body moving after my last very long run. I honestly don't remember very much about this one. My notes say: "Okay run. I was a little tired and distracted". So there you have it. 5.31 miles at 9:33 pace.
Wednesday: Rest day.
Thursday: I was distracted again, for one thing. For another thing, I am still waiting for some crisp fall weather, and it still hasn't arrived. I am tired of humid mornings in October! This was supposed to be a fairly challenging workout: 1-2 mile warmup, 5-6 miles at tempo pace, then a cooldown. I ran a very slow warmup, and I didn't feel like picking up the pace at all. I forced myself to at least try one mile at tempo pace, figuring I'd feel better once I really got my body moving. I managed 8:22 for that one mile, but I didn't want to run any more tempo miles. I knew there was a local 10k race coming up on Saturday, and thought maybe I'd sign up for that as my tempo run, so I ran the rest of this training run at a relatively easy pace. Footnote: I didn't run the 10k. Overall: 5.02 miles at 9:14 pace.
Friday: My kids were supposed to go to a Kids Night Out at church, so I decided to sleep in and run an easy 3-4 miles in the evening. Something new and different to shake up my routine, right! Unfortunately, several of the church volunteers came down with a stomach flu that afternoon, so they decided to cancel the event. My husband was working and my kids were very disappointed in the change of plans. So it became a snuggly pizza and movie night with my little ones, and the run went out the window.
Saturday: After running 21 miles last weekend, I actually had it in my mind all week that this weekend's long run of 15-17 miles with a 15-minute strong finish would be a piece of cake. I was still hoping for that crisp weather, and once again, I was disappointed. I took a break at 2.5 miles in, then another at 4.75, just dreading yet another hot and humid long run. Fortunately, the sky got cloudy around mile 5, so it never really got hot. From that point on, the run got better. I stopped for a Gatorade at mile 12, and had a nice long chat break with a friend outside the convenience store. After that I felt really revved up. When I hit 15 miles, I picked up the pace for my strong finish. I ran the next mile in 8:59, and then 0.7 mile at an 8:23 pace. That strong finish was a huge confidence booster. I felt like I could have kept it up longer. Overall results: 16.71 miles at 9:38 pace.
Sunday: I woke up early and was just about to head out the door for an easy 5-6 miles, when my 4-year-old son woke up and said "oh good, we're going running today!" He threw on his running clothes and shoes before I could respond, and I didn't have the heart to tell him no. We went to a neighborhood with fun trails, and he ran the first 1.25 miles, occasionally stopping to look at something interesting. Then we walked another very slow 0.75 miles with increased stick-gathering and silliness. Then I had to carry him on my shoulders for a hilly 0.4 mile. His running pace was decent, and the shoulder-carrying wasn't easy, so I am going to count this run as a workout for me. 2.4 miles of trails with no pace tracking.
Pausing to assess the bear threat (none).
Total mileage was 29.44. Another random lesson learned (that I really knew already but ignored): don't try anything new close to the marathon. On Saturday night, I put on a pair of roller skates for the first time in 20 years and thought it would be like riding a bike. It wasn't. I have a giant multi-colored bruise on my bum as proof, and I am fortunate that's the only injury sustained. Three weeks until the marathon!
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