My Road to Sydney — Week 9 Recap

By Coach Nic Baxter | NBx Running Coach

Week 9 of my Sydney Marathon training is done. This was the final full training week before race week itself. Mileage continued to drop, effort stayed purposeful, and the reality of race day is now genuinely close enough to feel.

THE PLAN

With Sydney just around the corner, last week continued the taper progression, with a further reduced volume, a mix of easy running and a few sharper efforts to keep the legs feeling responsive, and an overall shift in focus toward feeling fresh rather than building fitness.

Total mileage for the week: plan said approximately 30 miles. Actual mileage 35.7 miles.

Tuesday's Trail Run. Be You

MONDAY AUGUST 17 — EASY START TO THE WEEK

Monday brought a walk, PT and upper body strength session. All comfortably easy, a gentle opening to the week.

TUESDAY AUGUST 18 — CLIENT SESSIONS, TRAILS AND EASY MILES

Tuesday was a mixed bag of client sessions, a trail run and strength training. Average HR 120 genuinely easy efforts, with the trail run offering a nice mental reset.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19 — A MIXED SESSION

Wednesday was another varied day with a mixture of client sessions, treadmill run squeezed in between and core strength. Average HR ranged from 108 up to 133 across the different segments, with some genuine work in the moderate-to-hard zones. This felt like the last real chance to sharpen my legs before everything eases off further heading into race week.

THURSDAY AUGUST 20 — STEADY MILES

Thursday brought yet more client sessions, followed by a nice trail walk, and a client session in the torrential rain.

FRIDAY AUGUST 21 — MORE CLIENTS AND STEADY MILES

Friday was yet another mix of client sessions followed by an easy paced effort on Friday afternoon. Nice low HR throughout.

SATURDAY AUGUST 22 — THE WEEK'S SHARPEST EFFORT

Saturday brought a walk followed by a 6.5 mile run before my long flight to Sydney. This showed genuinely elevated effort — average HR 143, max HR 174, and a noticeably higher training stress than most sessions this week. This was a deliberate opportunity to remind the legs what race effort actually feels like, one week out from Sydney.

SUNDAY — FULL REST (Flying)

The remainder of the week was kept deliberately light allowing full recovery from yesterdays sharper session heading into race week itself.

Made it to Sydney on Sunday. I will be running over the Harbor bridge on race day

WEEK 9 BY THE NUMBERS

Total running miles: approximately 36 miles — continuing the taper's steady reduction Sessions completed: A mix of easy running, trail miles and one genuinely sharp effort Key session: Saturday's run at elevated effort — the last real intensity before race day Feeling at end of week: Fresh, focused, and increasingly aware that race day is close

WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK

A little intensity late in the taper is not the enemy. Saturday's harder effort might seem to contradict typical taper advice, but short, controlled efforts at race-like intensity in the final week or two actually help maintain neuromuscular sharpness without adding meaningful fatigue. The key word is controlled — this was not a hard training session, it was a calibrated reminder of effort.

Mental readiness builds alongside physical readiness. With Sydney now genuinely close, the taper period is doing more than just physical work. It's giving me time to mentally rehearse race day — pacing, fuelling, what the morning will look like. This mental preparation is just as much a part of tapering as the reduced mileage.

Trust compounds. Nine weeks of training, two peak weeks, an injury scare, a heat wave, wildfire smoke and now a careful taper — every week has asked me to trust a process I've built for my own athletes for years. Trusting it for myself has been its own kind of training.

WHAT'S COMING IN WEEK 10 — RACE WEEK

Week 10 is race week. Minimal running, maximum focus on rest, nutrition, hydration and logistics.

Race day is nearly here. 30th August. Let's go.

If you are training for a fall marathon and want expert guidance through your own final taper and race week — I'd love to help.

Book your free 30-minute intro call at nbx-runningcoach.com

Sydney — Week 9 done. Race week — I'm ready.

Coach Nic Baxter is an RRCA Level 2 Run Coach and ACE-Certified Personal Trainer based in Morristown, NJ. She is currently tapering for the Sydney Marathon on 30th August 2026.