marathon

Question
Hi Ryan.  I have been training for my first marathon which is 3 weeks away.  I started training a little early because of a surgery that was planned, so I've been training about 4 months which I know is long but I wanted to be sure that I could cover the distance.  Today was to be my last long run (planned to do 20-22 miles).  I was only able to do 16 miles (did not prepare enough fluids to get me thru, I felt ok but was extremely thirsty).  I feel pretty good at this point (no significant aches or pains) but am concerned that the last time I ran 20 miles was 5 weeks ago & I still have 3 weeks till the race.  I was thinking about trying for 20 miles this Friday but that only gives me 15 days to taper. I'm torn between giving my body enough rest and making sure that I have prepared enough for this distance.  So far, I have ran 16 miles 3 times, 18 miles 2 times and 20 miles one time (again, was 5 weeks ago).  My goal is to finish the marathon without having to stop and walk.  What are your recommendation on this?  Many thanks!
-Carly

Answer
Carly,

You should be fine. I would run another 17  miler this week and then begin a taper. You've got a lot of longer runs in. I ran a marathon before off 5k training, where my longest run for a whole year before was only 10 miles!!! I still made 21 miles before the pain came. Do one last moderately long run and then rest. You can't do anything to improve your performance in the last few weeks but you can do things that hurt it.

Ryan