Capped off week one of the taper with a very fluid 12 miler this morning. Beautiful late summer morning in the 40's; nice to have one of those "this is why I run moments" so close to the marathon. That's not always the case this deep into a training cycle. I am going into this marathon with a better mental perspective then last year. I was reviewing my training log last year and this same run was noted as "slow, sluggish and not a confidence builder." I also had a cold within the last two weeks of the marathon and have managed to stay healthy this taper. My foot was acting up this week, so I think I will make one more trip to the chiropractor for some ultra-sound and a bit of tweaking. I followed up today's run with an ice bath, followed by a hot bath with Epsom salts, followed by putting my feet up and resting. I'll be doing lots of that this week. I hope to get a couple 8 to 10 hours per night sleep-fests! I'm thinking only my foot can stop me at this point.
I spent some time on my run this morning thinking about what I'm going to do after the marathon. I was getting pretty excited thinking about all the free time I was going to have. Outside of the season ending cross country race at the University of Minnesota in November, I plan on cutting back on my running. I still will run everyday, but will leave my Garmin at home and run for fun only. Every year I say I'm done with the marathon and this year is no different. I'm thinking I may focus on shorter distances, as I perform better at 10K and shorter races anyway. How fast can I run a 10K in my 50's? it may be fun to find out! The other type of running that intrigues me is trail running. I like the idea of spending the week-end camping and going for long runs in the wilderness. Kinda of a running recluse. Maybe I'll even grow a beard! To be honest though, I don't see myself becoming a scruffy, granola-eating, flannel wearing, philosophical, laid back running hermit, but stranger things have happened. I'm just glad I can still run and have these options; its actually kind of fun to think about it.
So, what have I learned in this training cycle? I've learned that at 50 I don't recover as fast. I did increase my mileage by over 20% over last cycle, but my average time went way, way down. After some of those mid-week 15 mile runs or two-a-days it was a huge struggle to follow up with any type of speedwork. Also, I am at a point with my running where I require a huge amount of warm-up. There is no more heading out the door and settling into a good pace within a block or two. Most days, my first mile or two were spent at my recovery pace. I also learned to become a more social runner. This helped keep things fun and fresh. Lastly, I've learned that this 3-hour goal is not the end-all or be-all of my running. Sure I want to get there and I want to get there very badly, but if it doesn't happen it won't be a huge fail. I can honestly say that I have done everything I can to make it happen. If some outside observer were to look at my plan and determine that I could go sub-3 if I were to increase mileage by another 5%, I think I would have to accept the fact that I'm a sub 3:10 guy and be happy with that. In other words, I've gone all in and am satisfied with what I have done. Now lets run!
Thanks to everyone who has followed me over the past 20 weeks or so and also thanks for the words of encouragement from many of you.
Happy Running!
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