Fitness Recap, September

I had a solid month of running.  I didn't run any races and I didn't do any speedwork, but I got in some decent mileage.  150 miles total.  My longest run was 18 miles, and it was a tough one (mostly because it was hot that day). 

You're probably thinking, how can you stand it?  Running for 18 miles?  This interesting thing happens when you build up to running longer miles.  Your mind becomes much more meditative.  So whereas you might feel restless on a 3 mile run and obsess over when it would end, as you build up more mileage your mind builds up a tolerance for it.  And to pass the miles your body kind of settles into a pace and your mind just wanders through the miles as they pass.  Some interesting podcasts don't hurt, either!  I typically have a mixture of music and educational (nerdy psych stuff) podcasts. 

So the peak of my training happens in the next two weeks.  I will complete a second 18 miler, and then do my longest run, a 20 miler.  These will be challenging weeks and my body will be tired.  But it'll also feel good.  After that, I'll start my taper.  See, you have to rest up during the final 3 weeks before a marathon.  You are still running, but you let your mileage drop down so that your body can fully recover and your legs are rested for race day.  In some ways, you look forward to tapering because you're tired.  But it's also challenging because you start to get the pre-race jitters and you can't run off those nerves!  Regardless, I'm certainly looking forward to NYC next month.