Taper

So, the 14-week build-up to Austin is in the books. Here are my weekly mileage totals:

46.9, 49.1, 54.4, 46.4, 53.4, 54.2, 57.6, 49.2, 58.9, 63.5, 33.6 (ill), 58.4, 62.5, 59.3 = 747.4

That's an average of 53.4 miles per week (would have been more like 55 if I hadn't become ill at the end of week 11), which is a few miles more than I had planned, but I handled the volume quite well.

As briefly discussed below, I had a good day at the office yesterday. Even though my legs felt a bit on the tight side for the duration of the long-run, I knew I had several more gears for the final lap in Central Park. I had planned on running the last lap at about 8:00 pace (marathon pace if all stars align), but I ran it at 7:34 pace, which is, unquestionably, well below marathon pace. The legs just wanted to go, so I let them. My average long-run pace for this training was 8:33. That's 27 seconds per mile faster than my average long-run pace for the training leading up to my fastest marathon. If I had a guess, I'll finish Austin somewhere between 3:32 and 3:38.

I'll do 48 miles this week (mostly easy, aerobic miles--might throw in some 800m repeats if I feel good on Thursday), including a 13 mile long run on Sunday. Definitely plan to dial back the intensity.