Mississauga Marathon Training Week 15!

And just like that, I'm in the taper! WooHoo! The race is so, so close now. No burnout, no injuries (knock wood) and continued love of running. Things are looking good!

Monday: Rest. Of course I was starving all day long after the 32km run the day before. So I ate as well. Lots.

Tuesday: Because the weather forecast was for complete crap weather, I made the decision to hit the gym in the early morning to run on the treadmill. When the alarm went off, I so didn't want to get up, but I forced myself out the door and was able to get in an awesome tempo run on the treadmill. I increased my pace to 4:58/km during the 20 minute tempo part and this felt fine! 6.44k, 34:35

Wednesday: Back at the track. I'm not going to lie. This was one spot where my motivation was severely lacking. It had been raining all day and I decided that if the rain was going to continue I would NOT be running on the track that night. But, the rain stopped and I sucked it up and got out there. It was actually warm enough once I got going to get down to just a long-sleeved shirt and I executed some great laps (6x800s with 400 recoveries - net time is for 800s) 3:39-3:33-3:41-3:39-3:38-3:39. I am stoked about the consistency here. Of course when the run was over, I was glad I had done it. 11.35k, 1:00:57

Thursday:

Friday: Rest. And thankfully too, because the weather wasn't that much better. We had our neighbour come over and her kids played with ours and I drank some wine with her which may have compromised 

Saturday: But the wine from the night before played no part in this awesome 0615 out and back run. I felt good and just eased on up and down the road before settling in to the rest of the crazy day. 6.01k, 33:59

Sunday: Our last big training run before the taper! We met at the 7.5km mark of the Mississauga Marathon course inside University of Toronto, Mississauga along with Paul's clinic and hit the road for the last 33km of the marathon course. This was invaluable last year and will be of significant value again this year. Peter, Wayne, Yan and I started off together and missed the turn on Lorne Park which added to our day (by about 1km) but we enjoyed a mainly quiet run as we all reflected on where we'll be in three weeks (Peter is running the Goodlife Marathon in Toronto though). Personally, I had some tough bits along Southdown to Orr road due to the wind, but Peter encouraged me to keep going strong which I did. Then in the last few KM on the park trails, I really quieted down which Wayne remarked on, but I was feeling like I needed to stop or eat or something (and normally I would have a GU at 30-32km), so I'm not as concerned as Wayne was. I did get a few stitches in the last 4km which SUCKED but I walked/breathed through them. I think it has to do with talking too much (and not breathing right) or drinking too much. Let's just hope it doesn't happen on race day. After we were done, both groups celebrated with this treat which I made:

34.01km (longest training run ever!) 3:14:00.

Total KM: 67.81, Total Time: 6:23:41, Average Pace Per KM: 0:05:39

So, I have a decision to make about race time goals and I need to be realistic. The training has gone even better than last year because I knew what to expect. I just hope it all comes together in the same joyful experience as last year.  18 days to go.