Marathon Training Weeks 14 and 15

Weeks 14 and 15 are wrapped up the high mileage weeks of marathon training and now I am in taper mode. Here's a look at what the past couple of weeks have looked like:

Week 14
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6 miles in 59:09 with Melissa and Sirius. We explored a part of our town that we'd never seen before knowing full well it was private. Well, barely a mile in and we got kicked out by who turned out to be the homeowner. Our guess was that it was a rehab center.
Wednesday: 5 miles (solo I think?) in 48:31
Thursday: 5 miles (solo again?) in 51:47
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 8 miles in 1:18. Cool temps helped my quick pace for this one. Finished with a 9:16 mile which made me really happy.
Sunday: 11 miles instead of the planned 12 because I ran out of time and Adam needed to get to work. Total running time 1:57 and the pace was super comfortable and the run was nice and easy.






As a step down week I ran 35 total miles and felt pretty good.

Week 15
Monday: Rest, illness approaching, loaded up on Zicam and Airborne
Tuesday: 5 mile run after work in 53:31
Wednesday: 8 mile run which involved 5 miles from hell on the treadmill and finishing with 3 miles outside. It was thundering and lightning so I brought my run indoors but it cleared up so I headed outside. Never ever again will I run on the treadmill. Awful.
Thursday: 5 miles in 51:51
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 20 miles!!! I was running a half marathon today, so I did 4 miles at an 11:15 pace before, did the race in 2:12 then closed the day with 3 more miles at a 10:10 pace. I ran the race with my amazing running family. There were five of us running the race and Melissa, Kim, and I ended up running the entire thing together. I am so blessed to have these amazing running friends in my life. The race pace felt really good and we even finished with an 8:47 mile!
Sunday: Rest instead of scheduled 5. I was feeling my cold coming back on so I decided I'd rather skip a short run than not be 100% healthy on October 6. (I ended up doing the 5 the next day.)


I was 5 miles short of mileage for the week with 38 miles but with the extra effort put in thanks to the half marathon, I think it's okay it worked out this way. I know I can't "make up" lost runs, but mentally, fitting in the missed 5 miler the next day helped knowing I got it done.

Taper has begun and of course I'm started to doubt myself, but I know I've put in the work. Aside from missing one 9 mile run early on and two or three short runs, I've done the work. Running 20 miles averaging a 10:20 pace after a week of hard running and not feeling great was a huge confidence booster and with proper taper, rest, and nutrition, I think I'll be equipped to cover 26.2 miles - in less than 5 hours :).