M4T W14

This is week 14 of training. After this week, race day will be two weeks away. Your taper officially begins. You have four easy runs, one to two days of rest, and the game breaking "Mile Breakdown" workout. Your long run will drop back to 16 miles but you can opt out for a 5k race..

The best approach to tapering is: Rest, don't rust. Strike a balance between resting to let your body adapt to the stresses of training and get stronger, but log enough challenging miles to maintain the fitness you've spent the past four months developing. A lot of marathoners make the mistake of running too much during the taper, and get injured in the final miles before the start. Others taper too much and feel sluggish at the starting line. You want to keep your fitness level sharp, but you also want to steer clear of injury. Stick to the plan, and you should get to the starting line feeling fresh, strong, and ready to run your best.

Sunday - Rest Day

Monday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)

Tuesday - Intervals - 10-11 miles
2 miles easy running
1x1 mile(1600) at 7:50-8:00 pace with 800 easy run rec
1x1200 @ 5:52 pace with 400 easy run rec.
1x800 @ 3:55 pace with 400 easy run rec.
1x400 @ 1:56 pace with 400 easy run rec.
1x1200 @ 5:52 pace with 400 easy run rec.
1x800 @ 3:55 pace with 400 easy run rec.
1x400 @ 1:56 pace with 400 easy run rec.
1-2 miles easy running

Today is your Mile Breakdown workout and you'll need to keep the early intervals under control so that you can finish the workout strong

Wednesday - 3 miles easy (10:35 pace)

Thursday - 4 miles easy (10:35 pace)

Friday - Rest day

Saturday - LSD 16 miles or 5k Race (10:35-10:50 pace)
You may feel like you can run longer than 16 miles. It's best to stop at 16. This is a good time to review your training log. Add up all the miles you've logged on the way to the starting line, and draw confidence from all that you've accomplished, the fitness you've developed, the friends you've made, and the commitment you've already fulfilled. It amounts to way more than anything that could ever be measured on a finish-line clock!

You can instead, find a local 5k to practice going through your race day plan. This is recommended and if you're able to race a 5k follow this plan:
3 miles easy running
5k race
3 miles easy running
You can expect to be close to 25:12 for your 5k (depending on terrain and weather) so try to stay around 8:07 for your first mile.
* don't worry about the difference in total miles, the race and the experience will have your revved up for marathon day.


Total planned miles 38