Taper time

PHEW!!!

The worst part of marathon training is officially over! I did my 22-mile run early Thursday and now I'm in taperville.

Overall it's been a very good season. I'm a lot more confident now. There were some bad days, but I knew I could complete every long run, and I did.

It was strange doing my longest run without MIT. I'm going to watch some friends in the Akron Marathon Saturday so I was up at 3:30 a.m. to do my long run. My friend Jamie came along for the first 16, then I was on my own, but she was kind enough to lend me her iPod since mine was dead.


The run went well. We started in downtown Granville with the plan to split it up into four parts, using our cars as a hydration point in between.

This reinforces the best advice I can give for these long hauls: Break the run up mentally. Just worry about getting to the next hydration point. It will make things so much easier!

First we went east from downtown and onto Raccoon Valley road. This part was kind of rough because of the hills. We did six miles out and back. As usual, for the first three I was achy and mentally overwhelmed because of what lay ahead, but Jamie and I talked the whole way and that really helped get my mind off the task at hand. It was really, really dark out and my headlamp did nothing for the fog.

After the first leg we went on the same sidewalk I've gotten to know really well. I was feeling better for the second leg, and felt strong getting back to the car at the halfway point. The third leg was rough, my legs got heavy and I was mentally and physically exhausted.

Jamie had to leave after Mile 16 so I was all by my lonesome. I was able to speed up but those last six were rough. I went down to the bike trail and ended up having to stop twice, but I did it!

I had the goal at the beginning of the week of running 45 miles. That is clearly not going to happen, but I'm happy I was able to get the long run in. I'm proud of myself for listening to my body on Tuesday. I was going to run six, but after about three steps I knew I had to take the day off and rest so I turned back.


Now I rest for two days, then the mileage is much less because it's time to taper.

I'm excited for Columbus!!

Splits and avg. heart rates from yesterday:
Mile 1: 10:35, 146 bpm
Mile 2: 10:28, 159 bpm
Mile 3: 10:26, 157 bpm
Mile 4: 10:10, 159 bpm
Mile 5: 10:07, 153 bpm
Mile 6: 9:57, 161 bpm
Mile 7: 10:44, 142 bpm
Mile 8: 10:14, 153 bpm
Mile 9: 10:18, 157 bpm
Mile 10: 10:28, 156 bpm
Mile 11: 10:27, 156 bpm
Mile 12: 10:17, 151 bpm
Mile 13: 10:27, 154 bpm
Mile 14: 10:28, 154 bpm
Mile 15: 10:37, 158 bpm
Mile 16: 10:54, 158 bpm
Mile 17: 10:01, 153 bpm
Mile 18: 10:05, 168 bpm
Mile 19: 9:55, 167 bpm
Mile 20: 9:39, 160 bpm
Mile 21: 9:44, 166 bpm
Mile 22: 9:31, 167 bpm