I finished peak week running about 56 miles which is the farthest I have ever run in one week. I've run almost 500 miles since I started training for the RocknRoll DC marathon on November 23rd. I've been pretty healthy throughout training which has allowed me to consistently train. In December and January I've run just over 160 miles and should do it again in February which would be my farthest mileage months ever. For New York it was only near the end that I got to 130+ miles in the month and only one 20 miler.
Last week saw me run a 12 mile medium long run and a 20 mile long run in the same week, add in a couple of 5 milers and an 8 miler and I got to 56 miles. The 12 miler was done entirely on my treadmill since it snowed and the streets were pretty icy. The 20 miler was split between doing 13 miles on the BWI trail and 7 on the treadmill. I didn't want to push too hard and do something stupid with 3 weeks left before the marathon, my 3rd marathon in less than 12 months. I feel pretty good right now and am just trying to maintain my fitness through the taper period.
I've been doing a lot of my training on my own which can sometimes be a chore. It's easier for me to run long and not give in if I'm running with someone else or a few people. That being said, I'm pretty proud of myself for being self motivated to get the training done. I've only really run into a few snags with a slight runners knee injury due to not replacing my shoes in a timely fashion. It's much better now and continues to get better each week.
The next two weeks are taper weeks and I've never really been good at tapering and reducing mileage. But if I follow the plan I should be OK. I can't gain anymore fitness but I can sure screw up the marathon by trying to gain some fitness. Hopefully I can control myself and not get stupid.
On March 6th I'll be heading to Salisbury to see my daughter at Salisbury University and to run the Tim Kennard 10 mile River Run while my daughter runs the 5K. The idea will be to keep the pace easy and not try to set a PR or feel like I'm racing.
Thanks for reading and keep on running.
