A Tired, Rainy, Final Normal Run

Had this not been my last day of "standard" training for a while, I think I would have turned my alarm off and slept in this morning. This has not been a great week for sleep, and last night was probably the worst as far as the number of hours I got in. But I've been looking forward to today's run, as it is my last "normal" run before I move into final marathon training, for a while now.

I will begin to taper beginning this Saturday for the Nov. 1 marathon in Springfield. I would guess that I will not exceed 12 miles this coming Saturday morning, compared to the 16 miles scheduled for the Advanced Full group listed in the Route 66 schedule. I have decided that I am not going to completely stop running next week. I did that before OKC, and I think it did more harm than good. However, I will not run the distances I am running now, nor will I run with the relative intensity I am running with right now. Probably 3-4 miles a few days next week, just to stay in the groove and to keep my legs flexible.

Following the marathon on the 1st, I'll move into three weeks of a recovery/taper combination. Again, a few short runs the week after Springfield (and I will not be running the complete Mock Marathon on Nov. 7--probably just half), a pretty regular running week the week after (including the full 10 miles on Saturday, Nov.14), a few 3-4 mile days the week before Route 66, and the same the two weeks between Route 66 and the Vegas Rock n' Roll marathon on December 5. After that...I'll take the rest of the month off!! While I hate to take days off from running, it will be so nice, especially after the November/December I have planned, to rest.

10-22-09
Distance: 6.02 miles
Time: 50:27
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:22
Rabbit count: 1
Possum count: 1
Unidentified animal count: 3

10-21-09
Distance: 8.02 miles
Time: 1:09:00
Avg. Mile Pace: 8:35
Rabbit count: 0
Deer count: 1
Unidentified animal count: 1