Two weeks to go! My 36th marathon will be on September 25th. This week still had some longer miles, but the next two weeks will be the ‘serious’ taper. Even though Fargo is only a 4 hour drive from Minneapolis, I actually have never been. Any readers have any recommendations for post-race celebrations? Let me know!
Here’s how training went this week as I started the taper:
Monday: Labor Day holiday, so Dustin, Ruth, and I ran together, 8 miles, 8:30 min/mile average. I always run a little faster with Dustin. His normal ‘easy’ pace is around 7:15, so slowing down to 8:30’s probably feels pretty slow to him, so I try to keep things under 9’s. It’s not ideal every time though, since my recovery runs should be over 9’s…but I like running with him when I can, so I am sure to make the runs without him easier to get a real recovery. I think it’s really important to take the easy runs easy, especially when clocking higher weekly mileage.
Tuesday: As planned, I intentionally took this recovery run slower, 6 miles, 9:15 mile/mile over lunch, with the last mile or so with Ruth to burn off some of her energy!
Wednesday: Workout Wednesday, bright and early; I remembered to wear a headlamp this time. I can’t believe it’s already that time of year! I only needed it for about 30 minutes before the sun was up.
3 miles easy, 20 minutes at 8:30, 3 min jog, 10 minutes at 8 min/mile, 3 min jog, 15 minutes at 8:15, 3 min jog, 5 minutes at 7:40, cool-down to 10.5 miles total, 8:55 min/mile average. I’m not totally sure about the purpose of this workout, I need to ask my coach, as it was a little odd to bounce back and forth around marathon pace. But it felt solid and not too draining. The cooler temps definitely helped!
Wednesday night, we had our season finale of bocce. There was a little party too, with food, drinks, and an accordion player! So fun. Glad we decided to join the league.
Thursday: Rest from running! Took the dogs for walks (including Breck, my friend’s golden retriever that we are watching), and did a few Peloton strength classes- 20 minute strength for runners with Matt Wilper and 10 minute core for runners with Becs Gentry. I take Matt and Becs classes the most; I like how they are catered to runners. The moves aren’t too complicated either.
It’s impossible to get three dogs to pose for a picture!
Here’s a better picture of all three:
Friday: 6 miles with Ruth before work, 8:45 min/mile average.
Saturday: Long run day! I had 15 miles total, 4 miles easy, then alternating 1/2 mile at marathon pace, 1/2 mile easy for 10 miles, then 1 mile easy.
15 miles, 8:55 min/mile average.
I met up with a few friends and we did a loop down the Greenway to the River Road and back through downtown. The temperature was in the 60’s, but it was way more humid than I expected!
The most notable part of the run happened pretty early on; while on the Greenway, we saw black smoke rising from the side of the path up in some trees. As we got closer, we realized it was a homeless tent community that was on fire! It was very close to a power plant too and we were hearing small explosions/booms as the fire built. I called 911, and it rang about 20 times, but I never got through! Fortunately another passerby got through to the 911 operator and the firefighters arrived shortly thereafter.
It was scary; it didn’t look like anyone was hurt though and it sounds like they contained the fire pretty quickly after we passed by.
(For the record, it appears that the 911 operator did call me back and I missed it; I am guessing they heard the phone bouncing in my pocket and thought I had butt-dialed!)
After the run, we walked over to our neighborhood’s dog festival, “Linden Hills Woofstock!”
So many dogs, vendors, live music, a beer tent, and more!
We met up with a few friends and their pups; this is Sölden, named after the town in Austria!
And this is Bruce, who is a senior pup who prefers riding in his chariot at festivals! He’s the sweetest old man.
Sunday: Sunday family run; Dustin, Ruth, and I ran 7.5 miles together, 8:45 min/mile average. I plan to do a couple Peloton strength classes today too.
Summary: 53 miles of running, a few Peloton strength classes. I’m feeling excited to take on 26.2 miles again soon!
I’m linking up with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner as part of their Weekly Rundown. Check it out!
I can’t believe you 2 weeks out! I bet you can’t either. Never been to ND at all, so no advice for you.
How scary about the fire! I never hear my phone when I’m running. Sometimes it just doesn’t even ring. It’s somewhat old, has never actually worked completely correctly, it really is time for a new one (but then there’s the car, the treadmill . . . ).
I’m relieved that they did indeed call me back, I was concerned at first when I thought they had not.
Great job this week! So exciting that your race is in 2 weeks. Thats pretty scary about the fire, but I’m glad it seemed like everyone was ok!
It seems like no one was at the camp!
Lovely to see the Golden Retriever as a friend of mine has a puppy one! I saw my friend’s long-haired vizsla yesterday which was lovely. I am more in awe of your miles than ever as I’ve realised I’ve been overdoing it and tiring myself out and have had to decide to cut back. Happy tapering!
Golden Retrievers are very sweet dogs. Lots of shedding though, ha!
Yikes…two weeks to the big day! I’m a little jealous, but also content to not have had those final long-long runs LOL It was really humid here yesterday, too. My run was in the mid-60F’s, but the air was quite heavy. But, it felt like a good old-fashioned summer run, so I was quite happy 😉
The cool air is nice, but definitely still felt that humidity! But I am not quite ready to say goodbye to tanks and shorts weather!
Sounds like a great week! I love the dog festival. That’s the drawback to having cats- you can’t take them to a festival.
I was in Fargo once, briefly, and it didn’t seem like there was much to do. But that was just my perspective, and it was like 20 years ago. I’m looking forward to hearing about the marathon, and also what you end up doing in Fargo!
Hah, true, cats probably wouldn’t enjoy a festival! We only brought our younger dog as the older one doesn’t really like crowds anymore. She prefers naps 🙂
I’ve done a little googling around and it seems like there is a new restaurant and brewery scene in Fargo. I’m guessing its grown a bit in 20 years, ha!
all the dog photos this week are so cute! That is scary about seeing the fire. Glad everyone was ok. 2 weeks exciting!
The fire was scary…so many little explosions as parts of the camp must have caught on fire!
That is so scary about the fire, but even more concerning that no one answered your 911 call! Glad no one was hurt.
I can’t believe it’s only 2 more weeks until your marathon. Your training has gone so well! I’ve never been to the Dakotas. But your question made me curious and I found a couple of local breweries in downtown Fargo. Have a beer or two for me! :p
Ha, thanks for doing a little research Wendy! I too found quite a few breweries that have popped up. Fargo might be more interesting than one would expect!
Okay so Woofstock looks like the cutest thing ever, lol. How creative and clever!
I am glad that you are enjoying Matt and Becs strength classes!
You would have loved Woofstock! So many cute dogs around.
Wow! Taper time again! I’ve not been to ND either so I’ve got nothing. Omg Woofstock! What a cute idea!
Hah, yes Woofstock was the cutest!
It sounds like you are in a great place for #36! Love all the dog photos. The SFR workouts are a great feature of Peloton. I’ve got a few bookmarked to do on repeat. How scary on teh fire and not being able to get through on 911 — even if it turned out ok.
Oh, I’d love to know which ones you do on repeat Coco!
Yay, you’re getting so close to race day! You’ve had a great training cycle.
So scary about the fire! I’m glad no one was injured.
Same, Glad it didn’t happen at night when people might have been sleeping there.
Woofstock <3
There’s a Halloween one here in Tompkins Square Park that you should definitely check out on social. The creativity from the humans and patience from the pups is amazing. I love how on Tuesday it looks like Ruth was pulling you. SHe has no time for easy run nonsense.
AGree on the core/strength for runner classes. They’re so good. I just finished all the 10m ones and am now on to longer
I will check out the social media for the Halloween event! I love that sort of thing! People are so creative…
https://www.facebook.com/tompkinssquarehalloween/
Monday “medicine” 🙂
I’m glad that they were able to contain the fire- that must have been scary!
When you increase the mileage, do you ever feel this tightness below your calf? I’m feeling it lately and I’m just icing it/wearing compression socks in the house after the runs but not sure if it is something to watch out for. My half is coming up and I’m super nervous!!
Are you going to drive up to ND and will you be doing a lot of sightseeing?
I hope you have a great marathon experience there!
Hi Eri! I have not experienced that particular pain- every body is so different! Have you went to a PT to see if there is anything they would recommend?
We will drive to Fargo, it’s only about 4 hours. Most of the sight-seeing will be the 26.2 miles tour, ha!
And by now you’re only a week and a half out until your marathon! How exciting!
Do Ruth or Matilda ever get jealous of other dogs that you watch for friends or are they just so happy to have a nice long playdate?
Sometimes when a new dog arrives, Ruth actually gets a little barky; we usually try to have them meet in the fenced in backyard first before being inside on Ruth’s turf. Tilda actually is really tolerant, I think we’ve had so many dogs over the years that she just doesn’t care! Whereas Ruth was a bit more of a pandemic pup so she hasn’t done as much dog-sitting yet 🙂