Congratulations to everyone training for the Chicago marathon this weekend. For most of us, this was the last 20 (or so) miler! And what a beautiful weekend for it! My training partner and I enjoyed it so much we went a little extra! The picture is from some of the runners from Chicago Endurance Sports as they finished the Rome marathon. I thought the smiles on their faces were a good image to have as we start to think about Chicago.
In any case, now that the longest training run is over, it's time to begin my favorite part of marathon training: the taper. We've got about three weeks til the race, and now it's just a matter of fine-tuning before the big run. The hard work is over.
There are lots of different theories on how to spend the last couple weeks. But most everybody seems to agree on one point. Whatever shape you are in now, is the best you can hope for on race day. My friend, training partner, (and former 2:20ish marathoner), Rick Staback, says at this point in your training, all you can do is hurt your chances. You can't really improve. That's because the benefits of any aerobic or strength training you do takes about three weeks to make an impact on your conditioning. So what you really want to do is maintain, recover, and feel as fresh as possible on race day.
Rick is my former high school coach, and his advice is to continue to do some limited speed work during the week, and get in about 14-16 miles next weekend. The goal of that program is to keep your confidence up, and reiterate the pace training with the speed work. You don't want to push it too hard, and risk failing to recover or worse-injury.
Most training programs suggest something similar, and those are some of the reasons for that. In any case, now is the time to start thinking about the actual race. In the next few days I'll post some advice on marathon gear from Dave Zimmer, owner of Fleet Feet Sports.
On another topic, congratulations to everyone who ran the half-marathon today! And thanks to everyone who supported the PAWS Run for their Lives 8k in Lincoln Park. I helped emcee that event, and it was their best ever!
Enjoy the great weather on the trails!
