Finally I've made it to the taper portion of my training schedule! I was really looking forward to reaching this point, but now I feel like I haven't done enough to prepare and there isn't time left to correct that. I just keep telling myself to trust my training.
Week 15
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5.12
Wednesday: 8.01
Thursday: 2.56
Friday: rest
Saturday: 8.2
Sunday: 20.42
Total miles: 44.31
I felt like I was struggling all week. I am pretty sure that my body was just extra tired from Sunday's half marathon, but I also struggled with some doubt that I've taken on more than I can handle. Maybe I can't run a marathon (No, trust your training!). All of my mileage this week was run at a very slow pace and I fought side stitches during every single run.
The last 3 runs of the week also included some nagging pain in my right calf. It was really bad on Thursday and the reason that I stopped after 2.5 miles instead of 5. On Saturday and Sunday the pain lessened after a couple miles.
I'm not quite sure what to make of the side stitches. It feels like the side stitch during the half marathon left some lingering pain (Is this a thing? Can this happen?). I've noticed a bit of tenderness in that area even when I am not running. It was so bad during my 20 miler that I resorted to running 5 minutes and walking 30 seconds to keep the pain from getting too bad, which completely killed my pace. I spent almost the entire run fighting a side stitch (also fighting tears because I was so frustrated with my body).
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this week was a struggle due to the race. I really hope this isn't a sign of what's to come with the marathon. I definitely will be taking my sufferfest of a long run into consideration when choosing a goal pace for the marathon. I'd rather run a bit slower than spend 26 miles in agony.
Trust your training. It's hard, but that's what you've got to remember. Having just gone through this, don't doubt the last 15 weeks you've done, even if you've had "bad" weeks. You've done awesome in training for this marathon. I'll be rooting for you come race day!
ReplyDeleteI've had some side stitch pain before. I've also had times where I get a side stitch and it rears its ugly head in a few runs after it first showed up. A few rest days will probably help it heal. If it keeps it up though, it may be worth a visit to the doctor to make sure it isn't anything serious.
Aww, sorry you had a tough week. I second Mudder, hang in there and trust your training. You've been putting in hard work and you've got this!
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