This is my Indianapolis Monumental Marathon training week 6 recap covering every run from August 18–23, 2026. This was the first deload week after the derecho, with downed trees and power lines still lining the trail and sidewalks. Four runs, 29 miles, and an unexpected moment of joining a local triathlon’s run leg mid-race in the heat.
Week of August 18, 2026 · 4 runs · a still-recovering trail, dodging power lines to get anywhere, and an accidental race
Didn’t plan on running a race this week. Ended up in one anyway. 🏁
Week 6 was our first official deload week after the derecho, and it looked a lot more like normal training than last week did — even if “normal” right now still means dodging downed trees and crossing the street to avoid power lines that are still lying across the sidewalk. Four runs, 29 miles, and a Sunday that turned into something I didn’t expect.
The trail is still recovering. It’s going to be recovering for a while. But we found a way to get the miles in this week, and there was even a genuinely fun surprise in there.
Indy Monumental Marathon Training Week 6: The Runs
| Day | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, August 18 | 5 Miles Easy (Marathon Pace) | Took a different direction on the trail hoping for clearer ground — mostly worked, lots of downed trees but cut through for passage 🌳 |
| Thursday, August 20 | 6 Miles | Ran from the house to the trail, dodging downed power lines and trees on the sidewalks the whole way — not too hot at least |
| Saturday, August 22 | 6 Miles | Same house-to-trail route — this one felt harder than Thursday’s |
| Sunday, August 23 | 12 Miles | Trail closed for a local triathlon’s run leg — merged in with the runners and finished the miles in brutal heat 🔥 |
Tuesday: A New Direction
With running space still limited from all the storm damage, I decided to try heading a different direction on the trail to see if it was any more clear. It mostly was — most of the downed trees I ran into had already been cut in half so people could pass through, which made the miles more doable than I expected. It’s still sad to see the state of the trail, but at least this direction gave us a little more room to work with. The run itself felt good, marathon pace and all.
Thursday: Dodging the Damage to Get There
Thursday’s 6 miles started right from the house, with about 2.5 miles just to reach the trail. The sidewalks along that stretch still have downed power lines and trees blocking the way, so I spent a good chunk of the run crossing the road back and forth to get around them. At least the heat gave us a break today.
Still dodging this on every run to and from the trail. 🌪️
Saturday: Same Route, Harder Day
Same house-to-trail 6 miles as Thursday, same power lines and downed trees to navigate along the way. This one just felt harder for whatever reason — not every run is going to feel good, even during a deload week, and I’ve learned not to read too much into a single off day.
Sunday: Accidentally Racing
Sunday we headed into the city for the long run, and the section of trail I was planning to run on turned out to be blocked off for a local triathlon’s run leg. Other runners were just merging into the course, so I did the same and ended up running a few miles alongside actual race participants. It was genuinely fun to feel like part of something, even uninvited.
It was also brutally hot. I ended up finishing 12 miles total, and by the end I was more than ready to be done. Heat and an accidental race make for a memorable long run, if nothing else.
Merging into someone else’s race day. 🏁
Honest Check-In
29 miles this week feels like real progress after last week’s 19.2 — and it’s a good sign that we’re finding workable routes even with the trail still torn up in places. The commute-to-the-trail miles aren’t fun, but they’re getting the job done, and there’s something to be said for the fact that all four runs happened as planned this time. One more deload week to go before we’re back to the full plan.
You can follow along with the full journey on my Training & Progress page.
- Final deload week before returning to normal mileage
- Still navigating storm damage on the way to and along the trail
- Hoping for more cleared ground as cleanup continues
