Last Week Before Taper

The end of last week went as follows. Thursday was a ten miles run, with five miles at half marathon pace. This was a pretty tough run after a couple of hard workouts earlier in the week. On Friday I split my fifteen miles into two, 7.5 mile runs. Both were run at an easy pace. Saturday I was scheduled to run eight miles, but I was beat and had a tough run scheduled for Sunday, so I cut Saturday’s run back to five miles at recovery pace. I ended the week with 80 miles.

Today I started my last training week before tapering with a damn tough workout. I ran the Pfitzinger workout of 17 miles with 14 miles at marathon pace. I’m shooting for a sub-three hour marathon, but am using 6:50 as my training pace, mostly because it makes the math easier when I’m calculating race pace for multiple miles. Plus I figure training for a couple of seconds faster can’t hurt. Here’s what I said about this same workout when I ran it before the Napa Valley Marathon:

“This past Sunday I ran 17-miles with 14 miles at marathon pace (7:00 m/m). Actually, I probably averaged closer to 6:55 pace for these 14 miles. It was a great run. The weather was perfect; there was almost no wind (for the first time in days), and the temps were in the mid-50s. I had to work to maintain the pace, but not too hard; and I was able to get in a rhythm and run smooth.”

Today’s workout was much tougher, the big difference being that I ran mid-afternoon, and the temps were in the 70s. The good news is that I was able to maintain my pace for the entire 14 miles, actually averaging a few seconds below marathon pace. My big problem is consistent pacing. I ranged between 6:54 and 6:38. I just haven’t got to the point where I can just feel when I’m at race pace. I wasn’t planning on racing with my Garmin, but if I don’t get more comfortable with race pace, I may change my mind. Anyway today I averaged 6:47 for the 14 miles. Like the last time I ran this workout, I’m taking my ability to finish it as a good sign for race day. If I race smart and the weather cooperates, I have a fighting chance at reaching my goal.

I usually taper one-week for a half marathon and three weeks for a full marathon. However, since I’m still not sure which race I’m running, so right now I’m looking at a two-week taper. If I find out this week that I’ve been selected for the Navy Marathon Team, I’ll start the taper that day. Three weeks has worked for me in the past, so I’ll stick with it as much as possible. If I was not selected, I’ll run eight miles at half marathon race pace this Sunday and then start a two week taper for the half marathon. One week has worked for me, but because I’ve been mixing half marathon and full marathon training, I’ve run more miles this time and feel that two weeks will be a good fit.

One last item, the Coast Guard Sports rep either did not follow through and contact the Navy Sports rep on Thursday or was unable to get an answer. Either way, I obviously still have no idea what distance I’m running this month. It’s pretty frustrating.