Well, folks, it’s happening: race week is here. Or will be, tomorrow. One week from today, I’ll run my seventh marathon. Gulp. This week was true taper, and for the most part, I actually enjoyed it. It feels good to be able to run after work and not have the run dominate my entire evening. I am feeling like I’ve gained 40 pounds, but that’s par for the taper course. I know it’s all in my head, anyway… and probably has something to do with the many bowls of cereal I downed this week. Probably should stop doing that.

I didn’t do any double workouts this week. My runs were short enough that I could do core work and a little upper body (read: I did some push-ups) after running. I figured extra sleep would do me more good than an extra workout, especially since my students are doing their usual back-to-school germ swap,

Not me, Oprah!

Here’s how the week looked:

Monday:
Rest.

Tuesday: 
5 miles of fartleks. They had to be done on the treadmill in the early morning, as I had to work the gate at a middle school volleyball game in the afternoon. I also did some core work.

Wednesday:
4.5 miles with my friend Jaylin, who first sparked this running addiction of mine. We hadn’t seen each other in ages, so it was great to run and catch up… even it if was 90 degrees.

Thursday:
5.2 miles easy, then some core.I feel like this post needs a picture. Here’s one of a bumblebee. I took it after I ran Thursday, so it totally belongs here.

Friday:
Tempo intervals: 3x2000m with 400m recoveries, 7 miles total. I again ran on the treadmill in the a.m. so I could watch high school volleyball and football in the p.m.

Saturday: 
6 miles easy and a quick core workout

Sunday:
 12-mile fast-finish “long” run. It felt really good. That’s a good sign — taper is doing its job!Sometimes my Garmin does crack and thinks I ran at 5:52 pace.

Total: 39.7 miles

Race week is my absolute least favorite week of marathon training. All the work is done, and it’s just a waiting game now. Gulp.

What’s your favorite strategy to combat race-week nerves?