Gearing up for the Charles River Marathon on 9/8, hoping for a last minute BQ (sub-3). Coming off of a strong 1:17:23 half PR in the spring, I wound up having a brief injury set back which impacted my training in May/June. So, this marathon buildup will only be 10 weeks total, but I had a very strong winter/spring before needing to take a couple of light weeks for the injury. No lingering issues at this point fortunately.
I am currently 4 weeks out from the race. Yesterday I had a great long run of 18 miles with the final 10 at between 6:17 and 6:37 per mile. In this buildup, my long runs have been 14, 16, 18, 15, 20, 16, and 18, usually with a decent chunk of marathon pace miles within. My weekly mileage has been 50-65 mpw this summer. Additionally, during the winter and the spring, I had similar mpw and long runs all the way up to 20 miles in prep for my half, so I think my chronic volume is pretty solid.
My question is, what should I do for my "last" long run next weekend before cutting back for my final two long runs before the race? It will be 3 weeks out from race day. Initially, I wanted to do 22 with the final 6 at goal pace, but now I am not sure if that is worth the risk. I am feeling great, and think the risk/reward ratio of that hard of a run might not be worth it so close to race day. I am torn between doing 20-22 easy or doing 16-18 with a decent chunk of goal pace miles within.
Would love to hear what you all think about what I should do for the long run, as well as my overall fitness based on yesterday's long run!