Less than 2 weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training

I'm happy to report that the concerning tightness in my back from the previous week has disappeared even after the long, hard tempo a week and a half ago. I was back to running six days this last week, and the body feels great. Sometimes forced rest can be beneficial, especially squeezed between high volume and high intensity workouts. I certainly don't want to jinx myself, but I am looking forward to starting the New York Marathon healthy, rested, and fit!

Playing it safe, we went to a Fartlek for the mid-week workout and decided to save my last threshold effort workout for this week. I have also backed off the lifting once feeling the back tightness two weeks ago, but it was about time for that anyway. I wanted one last week of decent volume before starting a brief, two week taper. The previous week had so much time in the pool that I do not feel that I am risking fresh legs by popping back up to 100 in 6 days. I still plan 1-2 days off and my final pool session during the coming 10 days, so my legs won't have any excuse not to show up as ready as my mind on November 6th.

With nearly all important training in the bank, this next week will be more about healthy distractions, reflection, and dialing in a race plan which I will share more about next week. Thanks again for reading, and feel free to check out last week's training below.

Weeks to go: 3	AM	PM	Strength	Mileage
Monday	90 minutes aqua jogging	off	1 hour	0
Tuesday	12	5 + drills and strides		17
Wednesday	Fartlek: 3 x (5, 4, 3) w/half recovery jog	off	40 minutes	15
Thursday	12	5		17
Friday	10	5 + drills and strides	40 minutes	15
Saturday	12	6		18
Sunday	18 miles, push 4 @ 4:59 from 13-17	off		18
TOTAL				100