The New York City Marathon is 40 days away (but who’s counting 🙂 ). That means about 30 days of training and 10 days of taper. For those of you running NYC or another fall marathon, here are a few ways to navigate these final weeks of training:
-Your main priority now is getting to the start line healthy, rested and excited!!Resist the temptation to overdo it or overtrain. No, now is not the time to add in a new strength program. And if your knee has been hurting for a few days, skip the workout and let it rest. In the final weeks, less is more.
-Trust the plan and have confidence in your training. Worrying if you should have done something different will only cause unnecessary stress. Your friend is running longer runs than you? It’s ok. That is their training. Know that YOUR training is right for YOU.
-Treat your remaining long runs as dress rehearsals for the big day. Practice running at the same time of day as the race, determine the best pre-race breakfast and fine tune your fueling strategy. It might sound silly but test out your outfit and shoe / sock choice during one of your long runs. Suprise chafing on race day is a total buzz kill.
-Celebrate the journey, the sacrifices, the miles logged and the memories made. Getting to the starting line is an accomplishment in and of itself. Be proud of how far you’ve come.