Last night I only got a bit over a mile in for a run because one of my socks broke; it kept falling into my shoe under my heel. This is disappointing since it was one of my favorite pairs of socks; oh well, that’s what I get for keeping them around for a good decade.
This actually worked out well in terms of pre-flight strategy, as I needed to go to the bank last night or this morning. I took the opportunity to run there this morning, which means that I didn’t take today off but instead got a good 6 and a half miler in. Unfortunately, the majority of that was in rush hour traffic, but the last few miles were not too bad once I got off of the busiest street in town. Still, running as a means of transportation is a viable option and should be used when readily available.
My taper for the Marine Corps Marathon is a little different than usual. Normally, I start 2 and a half or 3 weeks before the marathon and start steadily decreasing mileage. This Autumn, I used the Pisgah 50k as a pseudo-training/experimentation run, so I didn’t really taper much. I only reverse tapered afterwards. I haven’t really tapered much at all these past couple of weeks for MCM. My mileage has been flat for about 5 weeks straight, including this week after the race on Sunday.
I think that this will work out well for me. I feel well rested, and this week will only be similar mileage because the race is so long. I do not have any nagging injuries worse than some bug bites from raking last weekend. This will be a good race, and will lower my personal record by at least a few minutes if not 10 or 12.
Good luck to anybody else that is running this weekend.
Have a great race, Blaine! Treat yourself to a new pair of favorite socks!!