Cool weather has arrived, making last Sunday the perfect day for a nice 22 mile run. I did the first 5 or so miles at a relaxed pace, remembering my bad experience from last weekend’s long run, and then steadily picked up the pace through the run, finishing the last 5 or so miles at close to marathon race pace. Average pace for the entire run was 8 minutes per mile.
Next up for this week, I have a hard tempo run on Wednesday where I get to try to run 6 miles at a 6:26 to 6:30 pace. After that, my next important workout for the week is my 17 mile long run this Sunday with 10-12 miles at marathon goal pace of 6:50 per mile. I am still not sure how realistic those paces are, but I am hopeful. Cool weather should help.
Unfortunately, my body may not hold up over these last two weeks of training. Just last Saturday I noticed a few painful twinges in my right knee, and today there is some stiffness and mild pain. I will ice it and pray. If I start to feel more knee pain, then I will make this week my last week of training and do a four week tapper like I did last year. After all, it is better to miss one week of training than to get injured and miss my race!
