One last century

Over the years, I've become used to having one last big mileage week about 3 weeks before my goal marathon. This is my first time ever using a Daniels training plan, and I was surprised when I glanced at my schedule a couple of weeks ago and realized that my last big week was actually 5 weeks out, followed by an extended, slow reduction in mileage before race day (as opposed to the sharper, quicker reduction I'm used to). Honestly, I'm not complaining at this point. The prospect of not having any more 90+ mile weeks between me and Boston is mighty appealing at this point. So, here's how the last big one shook out:

Monday - 10 miles in the morning, another 5 in the afternoon. The weather was just beginning to take a turn for the worse and I snuck both of these runs in outside, although it was cold and snowy, knowing that the weather was only going to get worse over the next couple of days...

Tuesday - 9 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon. And worse it got. More snow, more wind, more sub-zero windchills. Both of these runs were on the indoor track. The morning run was actually supposed to be 12 miles, but I just couldn't get myself motivated for that many laps, so I settled for 9.

Wednesday - 10 miles with 8 strides. Indoor track again, but this was actually a really good run. The best I've felt on the indoor track in a long time.

Thursday - 13 miles including 20 min. easy, 20 min. tempo, 20 min. easy, 20 min. tempo and 2 miles easy. Back outside and it was actually decent enough to wear shorts. The workout didn't go too bad overall, although some stomach issues kept it from going as well as it could have.

Friday - 12.2 miles in the morning, 5 in the afternoon. Making up for lost miles on Tuesday. The 12 miler was pretty rough because of the previous day's tempo workout, but I didn't have to work, so at least I got to sleep in before I did it.

Saturday - 9 miles. This one was rough too, much rougher than I expected it to be.

Sunday - 22 miles. Overall, this one went very well. I purposefully ran on a hilly course, part of which was totally new territory for me. I ended up with over 1400 feet of total elevation gain. I had one rough patch with about 4 miles to go where I thought I might puke, but it passed. Interestingly, this run took me 4 seconds longer than a 22 miler I did a few weeks ago, but on a totally different route. If nothing else, I guess I've got my long run pace dialed in.

Total - 100.2 miles

One last century before Boston in the books. Maybe one last century for quite some time. Although it seems counterintuitive, my mileage when I start 50 miler training after Boston will actually be less than my mileage has been for marathon training. I'm looking forward to the "break".

13 weeks down, 5 to go...