Let the taper begin

I have one more run for tomorrow, a 5 miler recovery run after today's big long run. This can't come soon enough and I really can't believe I've made it through 15 weeks of this. Damn, that was beyond tough on my time and my body.

Today was the last of the 20+ milers and the schedule called for 20 miles. I decided to do at least 22 miles. I wanted to test out my gels and of course being on my feet for almost three hours.

The splits speak for themselves. I warmed up but then kept most of my splits below 8 minute miles. I ate a small bag of sports beans before the run, drank a bottle of Gatorade during the run, and took two gels, one at the 1:05 mark and the next about an hour later. On marathon day i'll be taking a fair bit more fuel (5 gels, anti cramping Shot Bloks and of course water and Gatorade). I really think fuelling for me now is the major worry.

I wanted to do a negative split today and also try to run the last 5 miles or so at a fastish pace. Really happy with the heart rate -- it was around 150 bpm or lower for the first 15 miles and only around mile 19 when I started to run a little harder it drifted up to 160. Weather was optimal for a long run -- not too much sun and relatively cool for early September.

So really gratifying to run the last bit at 7:37ish pace. Not quite Boston pace but I know I'm more than capable of doing 7:15s through my last 30K race. It's the last 12K that I hope this taper will help to prep me for.