Peak Mileage Week – Jacqui

Week 10: I wrapped up week 10 by skipping my long run. At least it was a short longer run – only 14 miles. It was a “step back” week, so I feel I missed out on a confidence booster since the long run was short. Hopefully it won’t matter much physically, though missing the long run on week 10 did greatly increase my anxiety towards the next week's long run of 20 miles. Week 11: Despite week 10's skipped run, I completed Week 11’s mileage, which peaked at 20 miles during the week and culminated with a 20-mile long run on Saturday. Due to some miscalculations in where I was supposed to turn around on the long run, I ended up running 20.6 miles on Saturday. I am such an overachiever! I went a little slower this run than my usual 12-minute miles. I am unsure what slowed me down. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t have my personal mascot – my dog, Rowen. Or maybe it was the brutal, cold wind, or perhaps the brand-new knee pain that I developed around mile 16 that made me limp a bit. Still, I was very impressed with myself that I was actually able to run 20.6 miles. Hopefully, that means I will be able to run the full 26.2 on marathon day. I am very relieved that I have made it to this great milestone of completing the “peak mileage” week. From here until race day, I will be running shorter and shorter distances to rest up for the big day. Now that it looks like I will actually be able to finish the Marathon, I have begun to think about my finish time. I have always been a competitive person, so it has been very difficult for me to put my pride aside and try to just finish the race. I know it is unrealistic to “start” running 14 weeks prior to a Marathon and expect to have a respectable finish time. But I cannot get over the fact that this is a race, not just a challenge to finish. So one of the many things that I thought about on my 20-mile run this week was my finish time. If I am able to continue the remaining six miles, even at the slower pace that I ran on Saturday, I will actually finish the Marathon under the six hour time limit the Boston Athletic Association sets.