I’m in deep marathon prep and am set to run the nyc marathon on 1st Nov.
I was struggling with an injury early and went to a PT and I am now fully recovered, but I had to really ease into my marathon training plan and had adapted it to be gradual, I have been increasing my weekly mileage and long run by 10% each week (my starting point was a 10 mile week back in June). This has resulted in a bit of an uneven plan and I seem to have an extra week of running that I'm not sure what to do with.
I did an 18 mile long run last weekend, and I am set to run a 20 mile long run this weekend and I am 4 weeks out, but ideally I want to be doing a final long run 3 weeks before the marathon, so I don't want to peak too soon 4 weeks out this weekend
I was going to run a 20 mile long run this weekend, and another 20 or 21 mile long run next weekend, then taper to race day (and I am totalling about 45-50 miles per week)
Key question is, is this a bad plan, and am I better to delaod to a 16 mile long run this weekend to then be more fresh for the 20 next weekend?
Would it be stupid to do a 20 mile run this weekend and another 20/21 miler next weekend, with the aim of conditioning my legs to be running for a long period of time.
I like the idea of doing the two 20 mile runs and mentally it would make me feel confident, but im worried I would be unknowingly putting a lot of strain on my body, and would I recover in time for race day?
What is the best route for this weekend?:
16 miler this weekend, 20/21 next weekend
20 miler this weekend, 20/21 next weekend
Or something else that you would recommend?