Mississauga Marathon Training: Week 11

This is the first of the two weeks of big numbers before the marathon taper (well, big numbers for me, at any rate). I can't believe we're getting this close to the marathon!

Monday: Not nearly as stiff/sore as I expected to be, which I think lends some support to the theory that my #epiccollapse at the end of Around the Bay was at least partially due to an illness. If I'd really given full effort at ATB I would expect more post race pain. However I did decide to wait to do my first post-race run until Tuesday because my knees were unusually stiff, and I don't like to mess around with possible knee stuff. I regretted that choice after I got to work and the walk from my car really loosened everything up.

At the race expo, MEC Burlington gave me a 10% off coupon that was only good on Monday, so I stocked up on gels and picked up a new pair of sunglasses. Now I just have to avoid sitting on them or losing them. Over/under on that is about 30 days if you want to place bets.

Tuesday: Patty was planning an easy 16k, which initially I thought was crazy person talk. I just ran 30k! Lunacy! But my legs were feeling OK and I realized my options were either to join her or run a double later in the week, and I would much rather have company and get it over with in one go. So to avoid the double I tagged along. Wasn't that bad; we kept the pace slow and it was manageable. My legs were freezing, though - a skirt was not the right choice this day!

We also both wore our ATB hats and shirts. The shirts are as awesome as always, and I'm pretty fond of the hat, too. Glad I was able to prevent my husband from stealing mine (he didn't run 30k, he's not allowed to wear it, damn it).

Tuesday afternoon featured yet another in a seemingly endless series of dentist appointments. Take care of your teeth, kids, root canals are a time consuming pain in the ass.

Wednesday: 8k lunch run. Hit the trail, but it's not quite running ready yet - still some parts covered in snow, and some serious mud in a few spots. So I probably won't be exploring any local trails for a few more weeks.

Bonus of warmer temps: my phone no longer freezes up and dies after 20 minutes. Which means more mid-run #selfies. YAY! I'm sure everyone has missed those!

Thursday: Up early to run with Patty. 8k at 5 am, oh how I have missed that. /sarcasm

I do enjoy not having to run at lunch and therefore getting to leave work a bit earlier. The passing out in exhaustion at 8:30 pm is not really ideal, though.

You can almost see a hint of a sunrise, maybe.

I also booked my older daughter's birthday party. Several weeks in advance! For once I won't be desperately trying to schedule something at the last minute. Organization skills, I have them. At least this year. I did have a moment of panic when I thought I'd scheduled it for the same day as the marathon, but fortunately I wasn't that dumb. Whew.

Friday: Rest day! Definitely glad to have a rest day before Saturday's long run.

Saturday: Oh, just a little 33k run. That's all. No biggie.

For the first time in months Amy was able to join Patty and I! Sam, unfortunately, is on the injury bench. We miss her! Are we still a skirt brigade if we don't all wear skirts? Stupid cold weather. I wore crops and a complete lack of shame about my unshaven legs. I spent about 20 seconds looking for a razor Friday until I said ain't nobody got time for that, especially when there are old episodes of X-Files to watch on Netflix (how did I never notice before how often Mulder drops his gun? Like clockwork, confront villain, drop gun. Dude was clumsy).

Annnnnyway we went to Mississauga to run the last 33k of the marathon route. Other than a soul-sucking headwind in some parts, it went really well. My legs were pretty tired by the end but I that's to be expected, given that we're now peaking our training. Race day they should be nice and fresh after the taper. I'm glad we did this run because although the race is a net downhill, there are a handful of rollers after 30k and it's good to know what to expect.

Top photo is the finish area - it'll look a bit different next month...

Sunday: 8k recovery run, nice and slow. Ugh, I wish the leaves would come out on the trees, the greyness is started to get to me. At least it was fabulously sunny and somewhat warm!

It still looks like November. Boooo.

Weekly summary: 74k. Nice. Next week will be peak week and should set a new weekly record for me, assuming all goes well. I think I'm going to have to run at least one double, which I'm not super excited about, but whatever it takes to get in the miles.