Final Long Run

My last long run for Eugene Marathon is tomorrow—woo-hoo!! I can’t believe the day has come. Sometimes it seems I’ve been training for this race for a long time, but mostly it feels like I just started. My coach, Lynn, and I often joke how fast time flies, with the punchline being that we’ll be collecting Social Security by Friday. (Trust me: It cracks us up during our recovery laps around the track!)

Up until yesterday, LJ was having me run 18 miles tomorrow, then 20 miles the following weekend. Given how fantastic the rest of her coaching has been, I wasn’t going to question LJ on her decision to have me run so far just two weeks before the marathon. But then some concerns started poking my brain, partly from email exchanges with my good friend Ellison, who is also running Eugene. She and another marathon-veteran friend, Monica, are following Pete Pfitzinger’s training plan, as they always do. On their schedule, they run 22 this weekend, then drop back to 16 miles and 12 miles the next two weekends, respectively.

For days I tried mustering the gumption to ask LJ about her rationale for an additional long run. Finally I crafted an email in my head and sat down at my computer to write it to LJ. But before I could click, “compose,” an email from her popped up. Here’s an edited excerpt:

“I am sitting here doing some reading about tapering for a marathon and perusing the calendar for our next three weeks. We are running the 18 on Saturday with 15 embedded race pace miles. I’m thinking about long runs after this and wondering your thoughts on long run ideas for next Sunday, the 19th. Whatever we do that day, it is exactly two weeks until race day.

“I have all sorts of good creative ideas during taper but am curious what you think you would like for that last Sunday long/long’ish run?”

My God, the woman is not only a three-time Olympian, but also a mind reader!!

I immediately called her to laugh and discuss. Now our new joke is that she must have implanted a chip in my brain!

-SBS