Final Long Run Completed - Let the Taper Begin

Today's 15 mile long run was the final one on my training schedule and with only two weeks remaining until the Philadelphia Marathon, it is time to taper. The miles and long runs have been put in, and now I need to keep up the maintenance runs and keep my mind and legs busy until the big day.

Last weekend was my third and final 20 miler. This one was a bit tough since I had to run the whole thing by myself. It was the day before the NYC marathon, so most of my usual running partners were unavailable. I couldn't let that stop me. Therefore, I broke up the run into several parts to give me a change of scenery throughout the run and combat boredom. I started the run off by running 6 miles on the reservoir loop and then ran to the start of the "last 10 mile" run that I did the previous two weeks. Since I ran later in the morning than usual, there was quite a lot of traffic on 1st Avenue so I had to start and stop alot. However, it is a great route and I wanted to incorporate a bunch of hills on my run. Luckily, when I entered Central Park, I bumped into my friend and fellow Flyer, SR, and I was able to run with her for the remaining 4 or 5 miles. Since I was getting pretty sore by this point, it was nice to have someone to run and talk with the rest of the way to take my mind off of my pain. Overall the run was a good one. I was able to run at just about a 9 minute pace for the entire 20 mile run. It was great to be able to check off my third and final 20 mile run on the schedule and give me some much needed confidence going into the final weeks.

Today's 15 miler felt great. The weather was just about perfect - temperature in the low 50's and sunny. SR and I ran the first 6 mile loop together at a pretty brisk pace - about 8:30 per mile. I noticed toward the end of the loop that it seemed pretty quick but I felt relatively comfortable so it didn't bother me at all. SR went home after 6 miles so I ran the remaining 9 by myself. My main goal was to keep a consistent pace and feel as good a possible. I was pleasantly surprised to accomplish both. I was able to keep up an 8:35-8:40 pace for the remainder of the run. It felt good to complete the "mileage" portion of the training schedule.

Everyone gets a little nervous going into the taper portion. We are all used to running everyday, checking off our mileage, and using each day to get mentally prepared for the marathon. Now that the hard part of the training is over, I just want the marathon to get here as soon as possible. I will spend the next couple weeks finalizing what my strategy and pace will be. I want to go into the marathon with a plan in place and stick to it as long as I can.