One option would be to go for 3 hours ASAP.  Make sure you take it easy or off the day before and keep it easy on the pace, just finish the time.  The up side would be you'd be better prepared for the what, 4ish hours you will be out there on those hills?  The down side would be the potential to break yourself in some way.

 

Another option would be to stick with 2.5 hours.  Up side would be less risk to break yourself, and you can use the effort elsewhere in your week.  Down side would be that 4+ hours would be closer to double the length you are used to running.

I did one 3 hour run before my marathon and it was done just under 3 weeks before. Granted it wasn't my first marathon however weigh all that has gone on over the past 2 years it may as well have been. Good luck in whichever you decide!

Thanks for the feedback. I'll plan on trying to go 3 hours this weekend which should be about 18 miles. That would give me 50 miles this week. Then 2 1/2 hours 3 weeks out, 2 hours 2 weeks out, and 90 minutes the week before.

 

It wasn't until this month that things started clicking and I actually started to feel like I was making good progress. If I only had one more month.

Sounds like a good plan!

I knew when I signed up for a fall marathon that the last month or 5 weeks leading in would be problematic due to work/life stuff already scheduled.  I've been on 3 trips and home only one day in the past two and a half weeks, covering three time zones spanning a third or more of the globe.  My body is getting run down and does not have any idea what time of day it is.

Running has been tough.

I did my last hard-ish workout today prior to my marathon.  10X(1minON/2OFF).  I did not hit splits on the GPS but I was pushing the ON sections hard and probably 5 to sub-5 on the down slopes, and still 6:30 or faster on the OFF sections.  After a longer night of sleep (FINALLY!) my legs had some good drive and it felt great.

Tomorrow I'll go up into Red Rock Canyon outside Vegas and run a bit with the bighorn sheep.

 

Best run I ever had was there. Love that place.

Do you remember which trail?   I plan around 10 miles, then come back later for a short hike with the little kids.

Sincerely, thank you.  Just from the descriptions online I had already decided to do White Rock.  Keystone Thrust looks a bit aggressive for a taper week.  Pace will not be among my concerns on this run.

From Sept 2012:

"Red Rock Canyon - maybe the most beautiful run I've ever been on. Did the White Rock Trail loop twice, then Keystone Thrust, then a few miles on the Scenic Road to cool down. No description I can give will do it justice. Just, if you're out in Vegas, and can get a car - do yourself a favor and drive out there. I picked up a car at the airport rental place at 6:30 and was on the trail running at 7:15. And the trail and the scenery are absolutely unreal. Like breathtaking unreal.

 

Trail shoes probably would have been good, but I did it in my NB890s and was okay. On that White rock trail, of the 6.2 miles there's about a mile of that large pebble river wash stuff that was a little tough. Other than that, mix of gravel, packed dirt, regular trial type stuff. The loop took a little over an hour at a good steady run - some decent elevation change.

 

$7 to enter park, $17 to rent car, $4 gas, $35 taxi to and from the airport - but all completely worth it."

 

Altogether I got in 17 that day. I think one loop of White Rock was about 10k.

From Sept 2012:

"Red Rock Canyon - maybe the most beautiful run I've ever been on. Did the White Rock Trail loop twice, then Keystone Thrust, then a few miles on the Scenic Road to cool down. No description I can give will do it justice. Just, if you're out in Vegas, and can get a car - do yourself a favor and drive out there. I picked up a car at the airport rental place at 6:30 and was on the trail running at 7:15. And the trail and the scenery are absolutely unreal. Like breathtaking unreal.

 

Trail shoes probably would have been good, but I did it in my NB890s and was okay. On that White rock trail, of the 6.2 miles there's about a mile of that large pebble river wash stuff that was a little tough. Other than that, mix of gravel, packed dirt, regular trial type stuff. The loop took a little over an hour at a good steady run - some decent elevation change.

 

$7 to enter park, $17 to rent car, $4 gas, $35 taxi to and from the airport - but all completely worth it."

 

Altogether I got in 17 that day. I think one loop of White Rock was about 10k.

A good thing to know.  The thought of going to Vegas doesn't trip my trigger but this changes things.  Sounds like there are actually some decent options.

The thought of going to Vegas doesn't trip my trigger 

That makes two of us  But then again nobody asked my opinion when planning.

That is some serious improvement!