Well, that was a week. Whose idea was it to schedule a marathon so my last peak week would coincide with the first week of school? Some idiot, obviously. It’s still too hot for this sally to run in the evenings, and it’s getting too dark for comfort when I start running in the mornings, so all of this week’s runs started on the treadmill, and then I joyously headed outside as soon as a little light peeked out. It’s not ideal, but you gotta do what you gotta do. And here’s what I did:
Monday:
AM: 12 miles at easy pace.. Our hot water heater crapped out on us Sunday night, which was a bummer, but it made getting in and out of the shower post-run extra speedy, and that was good since I still made it to work early.
PM: Full-body strength at home once the plumbers were done fixing our hot water heater. I started watching Bachelor in Paradise for my trashy-TV-while-exercising fix. It is truly terrible, but I can’t stop watching.
Tuesday:
AM: 9 miles easy. Here’s a picture of the river I run over almost every day. I don’t think I took this on Tuesday, but this seemed like a good place for a picture. I am so good at blogging. 
PM: 30 minutes yoga. Actually, I can’t remember if I did yoga Tuesday or Wednesday, but it doesn’t really matter.
Wednesday:
AM: 11 miles with 7 at tempo. This was the opposite of easy.
PM: Either the yoga I claimed I did Tuesday or 30 minutes of core and stretching/foam rolling.
Thursday:
AM: 9 miles easy
PM: 45 minutes of strength. I did mostly upper body because my legs were feeling extra tired. I was hoping that just doing a little bodyweight work on them would mean they’d be fresher for Saturday’s long run. Spoiler alert: They weren’t.
Friday:
AM: 8 easy miles
PM: I used all my strength to hold the coach down.
Saturday:
Are you getting tired of hearing about terrible long runs? Because I’m getting really tired of having them. My schedule said 22 with 12 at goal pace. Once again, goal pace didn’t happen. My legs felt leaden and my mind was wimpy. I ended up with 21.2 miles with 11 at not goal pace. At least I had some cool clouds to look at for a while.
I think it’s time to admit that a 3:10 marathon might not be in the cards for me. Whomp whomp. I can make a lot of excuses for this run: I got up at 4:20 every morning this week and ran 8-12 miles. It rained all night Friday so was extra humid Saturday morning. The first week of school is always extra stressful and exhausting, and I’m out of gels and the ones I ordered haven’t come, so I was running on empty. But excuses aside, I’ve had a slew of shoddy race-pace runs, and I need to accept that I might be aiming too high. I’m not writing it off entirely yet, but I think that in order to hit it, I’m going to have to have a perfect taper and absolutely ideal race conditions.
Sunday:
Rest. I think I needed it mentally as much as physically.
Totals: 70.2 miles, some strength/yoga/etc.
And thus ends my final peak week. This coming week my mileage will be 50something, and then I’ll start tapering in earnest. This might be the first time ever that I’m actually looking forward to tapering. Remind me of that when taper madness sets in, okay?
Have a great week, friends!
How is your training going?
Ever had bad training sessions result in a good race? Give me some hope!
Have you watched Bachelor in Paradise? What do you think?
Rural Running Redhead 
Eek. What a week. Sorry about your water heater. And the 4:20 mornings sound incredibly rough. I am sure you have been training hard and heavy and will have a rewarding marathon, even if it is not exactly the time goal you have been pushing for (though I still think you have it in you!).
Thanks, Amy!
Don’t give it up yet Cassie, sometimes these horrible marathon segments, especially long runs mean that something special is on the cards. Just work with what your body gives you on the day, and try to trust that it will all work out. Sorry it has been so tough on you, but I am sure it will work out that you feel great for the race!
Thanks, Tina! I always love getting advice from you.
I think crappy training runs means a great race! At least that’s how it’s been for me in the past. You definitely have a lot of valid excuses as to why your training run sucked! And you have some great willpower! Stopping at 21.2. I would have been obsessive and just plugged through to 22 because I’m crazy and don’t listen to my body.
I normally would’ve kept going, too, but I was dying this time!
So sorry to hear about all the bad luck!
Bachelorette in Paradise is TWO nights this week, and I won’t be able to watch either until the weekend. I know that where I live is normally far for you on weeknights but if you want to come down sometime this weekend to catch up with me, let me know 🙂
Aw, I’d love to, but I’m spending the weekend in Estes. Maybe someday we will manage to hang out!
in high school soccer we used to say bad practices before a big game were good luck 🙂 So fear not, the odds of having a great race are in your favor! also lol- i agree that was the perfect place for a river picture!!
Thanks! I’m going to tell myself that’s how it’ll be, anyway. 🙂
I love your honesty. I have been having bad long runs as well and when I was training last summer for my second half, I hated my long runs. I even skipped my 12 miler because I just couldn’t stand to do it. I think you will have an amazing marathon regardless! You are awesome and will fight through it. Last summer I also trained for a 5K to PR in (I know not the same training as a marathon) but my runs were sucky and very hot. I guess it all paid off because I received a 5K PR and a mile PR! I wish you all the best in the rest of your training! You keep inspiring me to finish my training!
Thanks, Heather! This comment made my night.
Where do you find the time, energy, sleep to run that many miles a week. I need a nap just looking at that mileage and the hours you are running. Honestly, I think your race is going to go really well. I had similar feelings before going into my last race in Lake Stevens and had a stellar race (unexpected). You have put in the work, now just enjoy the taper. 🙂
And yes, I watch the Bachelor in Paradise. It’s so bad, but so good. Mindless entertainment is perfect for the beginning of the week.
I might run more miles than you, but you definitely train more hours than I do! Thanks for the encouraging words!