2 Weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training.

It seems like the taper stage of a marathon training segment should be something to look forward to, but it brings its own challenges. As the volume decreases in terms of weekly mileage and workout length, the training tends to get faster, bringing on a different type of fatigue than the earlier stages. This is planned, but that doesn't make it any easier. The real rest will come the final 10 days when volume and intensity drop significantly. While the rest is certainly welcomed, it also means the start of a little anxiety and restlessness as the race approaches. I'd love to say that as soon as the marathon is over you can finally relax, but the truth is that I spend the next day or two analyzing every detail of the race in my head trying to figure out where mistakes are made. That is why I have made it a habit to travel ASAP following the marathon. It's important for me to completely remove myself from the environment for a few weeks. This year I'll be heading to South Africa 3 days after the NYC Marathon. Our first week will be spent backpacking in the Drakensberg Mountains, and we will then take a more relaxing approach by hitting Cape Town and Kruger National Park. After the backpacking trip, I'll slowly easy myself back into running and take advantage of the summer weather and beautiful terrain. In all, I plan on about a full two weeks away from running. After only taking a week off after London, and a few days off after the track season, I think the break will be overdue.

I'm already getting ahead of myself here. Another great week of training is in the books, and I'm confident that I'm ready for the best marathon of my career come November 2nd. After a successful 4 weeks in Flagstaff at the beginning of the block, my tempos, intervals, and long runs have all been faster, and I've put more time in on hilly roads than before any of my previous marathons. I feel that I am significantly more prepared for the tough New York course than I was last year. I'll discuss more specific goals and race strategy in my blog next week.

I recovered well from the tough 16-mile tempo in Victoria and had a solid workout on the track on Thursday hitting a fairly even pace for all 8 miles of work. The next Thursday will be my last challenging workout (4 x 2 miles) before I enter full rest-mode. Feel free to check out last week's training below, and thanks again for reading. Follow me here on Twitter for more updates.

Week 10	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Sunday	3 mi warmup, 16 mi tempo (4:56 avg) on Victoria Marathon course, 1 mi cooldown	off		20
Monday	10	Off – drive from Victoria		10
Tuesday	13.5 + drills and strides	4.5		18
Wednesday	5	10	30 minutes	15
Thursday	4 miles @ 18:53, 2 x 2 miles @ 9:23, rest = 4 min, 2 min, on the track	off		15
Friday	12	5	40 minutes	17
Saturday	5	10 + drills and strides		15
TOTAL				110