Only 4 Weeks!

One more week of heavy training, one cut back week, two weeks of taper and then its off to the      race(s).  Its all pretty much a mental game at this stage.  I've been reviewing my running log for this training cycle and broken down some of the numbers and done a general review of the training so far.

• Weekly Average - 76.28 - I was hoping to be over 80 for the cycle, but two weeks of bad Plantar Fasciitis pain had me cut back mileage to 55 and 59 miles.  I did set a weekly mileage PR of 94 miles back in July.  I was not able to break 100 miles.  I thought about this, but why risk injury or fatigue for a secondary goal.  I remember an old rule of thumb that said you can determine when you will hit the wall by dividing your weekly average mileage by 3.  Well folks, 76.28/3 = 25.42.  I'll take it!
• Long Runs - I have had 7 runs of 20 miles or more, with the longest being 24.65 back in week 11.
• Speed - this training cycle was definitely one of "quantity over quality."  I don't track things this closely, but I would be surprised if my average pace of all runs throughout the entire cycle was much faster than around 8:20 to 8:30.  The range was 5:41 to 9:44.  I ran no matter what (only one day off the entire cycle) and did a lot running by feel.  I did manage to PR in the 5K back in May with an 18:31 and the mile in January with a 5:27. 
• Injury and Health - the Plantar Fasciitis was my only real problem, but it was and is a significant one.  If I don't make my goal this will be the culprit.  Not only did it hinder me from making my mileage goal, but was definitely the major factor in limiting the amount of speedwork I wanted and needed.  I did learn a lot about perseverance though.  I've been relentless in my treatment of this.  Icing, stretching, massaging etc. have been non-stop.  A big thumbs up to Dr. Ross, who has been a huge help in helping to manage the pain.  Overall health is good right now.  It was a bigger challenge to consume the amount of calories needed (some days over 4,000) and always eat right.  I'm not as dedicated to nutrition as I need to be, but I made huge improvements over previous training cycles.  Sometimes that big cheeseburger or pepperoni/green olive pizza with a beer or two was too hard to pass up.  How else is a growing boy going to get his calories?  Conditioning was strong in the first half, but took a backseat to mileage and PF treatments in the second half. 
• Mental Game - this is why the marathon is not my favorite distance.  You can train for a 10K and not do your best, but there is always another 10K you can do in a couple of weeks.  The marathon is so different because you are putting all your training eggs into one training basket.  18 plus weeks of preparation go into 1 day.  It's hard not to stress a little; okay a lot.  I know, this isn't the Olympics and I won't win any prize money.  No one really cares, but me, if I break 3-hours or not, but this self-imposed time can be tough to get mentally.  Today, I feel pretty good about everything I've done, but the nerves and butterflies are starting to appear.  Can I break 3-hours?  I'd say I have about a 75% chance.  If the weather is good, I have a good taper and simply just have a good day it will happen.  I'm 90% sure that I will PR (3:06 or better)  There is also still a chance that I totally bonk, but I think I have virtually eliminated that chance with the amount of miles logged.

So there you have it; lets put in one more good solid week of training, enjoy the next three tune up races and have some fun!  As I said in one of my first posts, this is supposed to be fun, right?

Happy Running!