Marathon Week 6

I am pretty sure that this is my highest mileage week to date. It is kind of exciting to be breaking new mileage records again! I remember training for my first half marathon and getting to the point where each long run became my longest run ever.

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4.0
Wednesday: 6.3
Thursday: rest
Friday: 4.0
Saturday: 4.0
Sunday: 13.06

Total miles: 31.36 miles

I tried to run Tuesday's run at my tempo run pace (about 8:00), but the heat (mid-80s) really slowed me down. My average pace was 8:19. I tried to push the pace a bit on Wednesday as well, but fell off a bit in the second half of the run. Friday's run was at recovery pace.

Saturday I aimed for my predicted marathon pace of 8:45 (based on my most recent half time). Since this is my first marathon I don't think I'll be able to actually hold this pace for the race, but I don't think using it for training purposes is going to cause any problems.

Against all odds, my long run on Sunday was amazing. I didn't make it to bed until 1:30 AM on Sunday morning. I am normally in bed by 10 so this was extremely past my bed time! After sleeping in and waiting out a major thunderstorm I didn't get started on my run until 2:00. Fortunately it was not too hot or humid! I knew about a half mile into the run that it was going to be a great run; I just felt amazing. I held a steady pace of 9:30 for the first 11 miles and then kicked it up to 8:15 for the final 2 miles.