Technically, there were 17 weeks of training in this training cycle but since I miscounted at the beginning, I’ll just count the last one as race week.

Training this past week went really well. I even started thinking about possibly adding a December marathon this year. I’m not making any decisions until after San Francisco though.

Monday: 65 minutes with 3 x 2 minutes hard effort intervals
I felt really good the entire time on this run holding a strong and steady pace. The only thing I disliked was the excessive sweat. I will be so thankful for cooler weather.

Tuesday: 35 minute easy
Once again, other than being annoyed by all the sweat, I felt great on this run. It’s been a while since I’ve had a run this short.

Wednesday: 15 minute warm up, 7 x 7 minutes at 7:50
These intervals felt very tough at the start and yes, it goes almost without saying that all the sweat annoyed me. I focused on staying strong throughout the intervals even when the number of them felt like it would be too much. I got it done, however, and felt awesome.

Thursday: off
I enjoyed sleeping in.

Friday: 20 minute warm up, 4 x 800m w/200m jogs, 10 minute cool down
The intervals were super tough but I persevered and absolutely loved them.

Saturday: 70 minutes with 4 x 3 minute moderately hard efforts near end
Although, once again, I was super sweaty, I felt strong the entire time throughout the run including the hard efforts. We started much later than would have been ideal to avoid the rain but thankfully the shorter nature of this last “long” run meant that the heat and humidity did not kill us.

Going into race week, I am focused and ready. Bring on the marathon!