This week I entered what I am considering the final push of training for the ING Hartford Marathon. I have four more weeks of pushing myself before a taper week leading up to the marathon. While each person treats taper in a different manner, Gia and I aligned early on that I would have a short taper due to my disrupted training plan during July’s big move. Instead of intimidating me, realizing I have less than 35 days until the marathon excites me. I love having four weeks that I can focus on my training. I have no travel other than London weekends. My parents are going to here visiting which will be nice from an emotional aspect. The weather is perfectly crisp and cool, beckoning me to break a sweat in the mornings. After an evening chat with my coach, I feel focused and determined.

Gia and I decided last night that my primary goal between now and taper is to focus on the details.

I can blame it on the move or living between two cities but for some reason during August I pretty much stopped using my Garmin. Mentally and physically it made running a bit more fun for me after being so hard on myself during the July move and transition period. Running without a Garmin allowed me to enjoy the miles with Emily and Amy rather than focus on the specific workouts or pace. Running became a stress release again and I found myself looking forward to my runs versus resenting them.

Now that the amount of training left between me and the marathon is a far smaller chunk of time, I find myself ready to strap on the Garmin and dive into the details of daily workouts. It isn’t a sense of pressure but rather a sense of excitement to see what a renewed and refreshed outlook combined with a challenging plan can do.  Over the next four weeks, most of my focus will be on the Tuesday mile repeat workouts and the Friday long runs, beginning with this week’s 20 miler along Lake Geneva.

I know that I’ll get in the rest of the miles but these are the two workouts in which I believe the planning and attention to detail is so important. Thursday night I’ll tuck myself into bed by 9pm to ensure that at 4:45 my body will feel rested and fueled for a strong long run, as if it was marathon morning.

What workout do you enjoy the most during marathon training? I think I fell in love with mile repeats this morning as I bet I can see improvement each week and it’s a far enough distance to push your body but short enough to push the speed.