Less than 4 weeks to the TCS New York City Marathon: Last week's training

We're down to less than a month before the big day, and I survived what I consider one the toughest workouts of the marathon training block. I did 16 miles, slightly slower than what I think is my current marathon pace, but the course was very difficult. For those who have trained in Portland, the loop is Fairmount Blvd, just below council crest. It is runable, but there is no flat section. My wife and I both decided to give it a shot for a long tempo to mimic the NYC course and beat the legs up in a different way than our usual flat Sauvie Island loop. This tempo is also challenging because I went into it with another 140 mile week and a fairly high volume Wednesday workout. The pace wasn't blazing, but the effort was right, and I'm glad I went with the more difficult terrain.

There is really only time for one more big long run effort before starting to bring the intensity and volume gradually down on the way to November, 4th. I'm looking forward to utilizing what should be a perfect fall Portland day to get aggressive in a 22 mile run this coming weekend.

Thanks again for reading, and feel free to check out last week's training below.

140	Monday	10/1/2018	AM: 13 + strength PM: 6
	Tuesday	10/2/2018	AM: 14 + drills and strides PM: 6
	Wednesday	10/3/2018	AM:15 x 1000m @ 70, 1 min rest PM: 6
	Thursday	10/4/2018	AM: 14 + strength PM: 6
	Friday	10/5/2018	AM: 1 hour run + 15 x 200 meter hills PM: 6
	Saturday	10/6/2018	AM: 12 + strength PM: 6
	Sunday	10/7/2018	3 mile warmup, 16 mile tempo @ 5:05 on hilly Fairmount loop, 3 mile cooldown