2 Weeks to Philly (Nov 10-Nov 16)

Planned miles: 29

Actual miles: 34
Planned long run: 8
Actual long run: 10.5
Accumulated pace for the week: 7:40

Lot of Philly training miles

Links to key runs: 2x3 mile speed work with FHR; Sunday "Long" Run

With 2 weeks to go, my focus for this week is to ease up on the miles, particularly in the back half of the week, while still rattling off miles at marathon pace as often as possible.  After the previous weeks Blue Hill Sunday run, Monday was a well-timed rest day for me.  I'm not sure when it happened, but my left groin has been bothering me for the last week.  Nothing specific triggered it, as far as I can remember; it just seemed to be something that bothered me a little bit more during the end of last week and the beginning of this week.  It actually doesn't bother me while running, but during down time (and definitely while doing core work) it is tender, but also doesn't seem to be getting worse, or better.  I'm currently chalking it up to "the guaranteed one thing that is going to bother me physically at any given point in time" and trying not to worry about it...too much.

The Thursday night track workout was my focal pt of the week, and I settled in to do a 2 mile warmup on the track (I'll note that I now do all my warmup and cooldown on the track running in the outer lanes in the reverse direction) followed by a 2x3 mile session at marathon pace (7:37, for me) followed by 2 miles cool-down.  For whatever reason, I pushed a bit harder than 7:37 pace for the first 3 mile set, with miles at 7:15, 7:15, 7:01.  On the second set, I was properly loose and went comfortably hard: 7:06, 6:54, 6:44.  It felt great!  I know that track speed is fast compared to road speed, but I'm really hoping that I can run 7:35-7:40 pace at a comfortable effort level in the marathon, with hopefully energy to dip down after mile 18-20.  I'll also say that it was nice to make it back out to the track on a Thursday night, as I had been doing my 800 work on Tuesday and Wednesdays over the last 2 months.  I'm really looking forward to getting back to doing whatever the group is doing!

Took a few short runs that all came in around, or just under 8 minute miles...easy starts with acceleration to marathon pace, which just left today's 8 mile run.  I didn't have too specific a plan for this AM, other than to try and run as close to the philly 7am start as I could, but I found my comfort zone after a mile or two and had a nice progression run, reaching down to the 7:20 range, which felt good.

SO, I'm now inside of 7 days from the race!  My overall health is good, with the groin issue posing a small, but real, concern for me.  This week I'll make an effort to run as close to 7am as possible, but unfortunately that means running at around 5am most days, but the miles will be easier.  Friday AM I'll try and get a fast burst into my short run, and then I'll be on a plane Friday evening bound for Philly.

As far as nutrition this week, I'll keep it fairly simple: the main goal is to not bulk up lbs.  The scale the last few mornings has gotten down under 175 (for the first time in....12 years? at least) and with the cutback in miles this week, my hope to to avoid bouncing back up to 180 before the race.

I'll probably employ a combination of the two following theories (found here)

Subsequent theories of carb loading have become shorter and more pleasant. One calls for a long, but not exhaustive, workout one week before the main event with three or four days of normal diet (50%-60% carbs) and three or four days of increased carb intake (70%). 

An even more condensed version calls for a normal diet and tapering activity for six days leading up to the marathon. The day before the race, the athlete blasts a very short intense workout—two-and-a-half minutes run at mile pace, followed almost immediately by a 30-second sprint—and spends the 24 hours prior to the start line on a carb binge (90%), cutting back on fats and protein so she/he doesn't explode, like a Beagle.

Currently the weather for the race is looking promising, but it has been bouncing around a lot over the last few days since Sunday will be a bridge day between colder winter weather and then some unseasonably warm weather that is following it.

Miles run in the past 365 days: 1,761.
Miles run in 2014: 1,603.
Philly plan through 15 weeks: 643 miles run vs planned 562.
Philly plan vs Boston plan through 15 weeks: 643 miles vs 543.