I finished my last long run in preparation for the Philadelphia marathon. As I always do, I adjusted my training after the preceding marathon. I ran more long runs than the generally known training plans recommend, but I ran them in slower pace, always 3 hours and 5 minutes regardless the distance.

I gained only one experience in Boston this past spring, but it was an important one. My body and, mainly, mind weren’t prepared to move for 4 and half hours—my finishing time. So, I made my goal to run the long runs for the period of my target marathon time and add a few extra minutes.

As the training plan progressed, I noticed that due to the slower pace of the long runs I was not as beaten as in previous marathon training cycles despite running longer distances. I also recovered faster. I was able to resume a pain free training after one day of rest. In two weeks, I’ll find out how right was my self training.