Marine Corps Marathon: 3 weeks to go and the taper begins

Week went well. Did all my runs including the big 30 mile weekend. My legs are surprisingly fresh. Now we come to the taper. My taper schedule is a bit more work than last year's. I'm running 43 miles this week, followed by 32 the following week, and the final 6 days before the marathon I'm doing 22 miles.

I'm feeling relatively fresh and the last 20 miler in hot and humid conditions, along with the strong half marathon, were two big confidence boosters. Now it's time to stay healthy, heal up, avoid the temptation to run myself out and rest for Marathon Day, which is now 20 days away. Reading and hearing about the Chicago Marathon (and, to a degree, the heat we faced at the Army Ten Miler) reinforces that weather is one factor that I can't control, yet it can determine how we will do on the big day. We just have to deal with the weather we're given and just pray that the 16 to 18 weeks we put into this is not wasted on our victory lap. Yep, that's what marathon day is, the culmination of all our work...

Weekly mileage: 49 miles (79K)
Year to date mileage: 1315 miles (2115K)

Week ahead
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 8 miles with 5x600
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 4 miles with 6x100
Saturday: 10K tuneuprace (ZooRun)
Sunday: 16 miles

Sunday