I had tired legs again on today’s run. In particular, my quads felt lifeless. Sticking to Sunday’s decision to skip track was definitely a good idea. I might also cut back a little on the bike ride tomorrow.
Now that the marathon is finally getting close, whenever I have a bad day I start to obsess over whether I’ve already done too much and I won’t be fresh for race day. I need to remind myself that whenever I’ve had my little dead leg periods, I’ve been able to recover in time for the next big effort.
I’ve got less than four weeks to go before race day. That’s both a very long time and no time at all. There is plenty of time to ruin my race by stressing out and trying to cram in just one hard workout too many, but there isn’t enough time to get appreciably better than I am right now.
I’ve got two key runs left, a long run this weekend and Paddy’s 3 mile race next weekend. Other than that, when I have a choice between pushing and dialing it back, it’s time to start taking it easy.
No matter how many times I’ve done this before, the last few weeks before a big race are always hard. At this point, 99% or my training is done. I am what I am. You’d think with all my experience it would get easier to mellow out and trust my training, but it never does. I’m sure that’s a theme I’ll return to a few times over the next 25 days.
Marathon training isn’t the only thing coming to an end. Yesterday New England Runner asked for my jacket size, a reminder that Paddy’s is the last race in the Pub Series. After the last race they put on an awards party. Assuming I finish Paddy’s, I’ll earn a Pub Series jacket for my prize.
(7.8 mi. run; 146.5#)