Taper Time

My sympathy goes out to all the Western States 100 runners who did not get to run this weekend. I think I would be seriously disappointed if I trained for so long and then have the race be cancelled. I'm sure the race organizers did the right thing, but it's still tough. Big props to the Vermont 100 organizers for opening up 40 more slots. This will be one tough field for the race! It's good for the race, and good for Northeast ultrarunning.

Well, the race is less than 3 weeks away. I'm ready to taper both mentally and physically. My body was begging for rest this week.

Tuesday, 6/24 - After a rest day on Monday, I was still not up to my usual 20 miler on Tuesday. I didn't have the time, but secretly was happy to do an easy 10. I ran into the Goat along the way. We picked up the pace for a mile or two around mile 7, and then I stopped for a drink before doing a 2 mile cooldown. My right calf tightened up, and I was concerned. I massaged it quite a bit that night.

Wednesday, 6/25 - Feeling a bit tired at the start. I decided to carry a bottle due to the heat, but still managed to hold a decent pace for the first 9. I ran into Sean, husband of a friend of Dawn's, and we connected for the rest of the run. We had never run together, but I knew he had run a marathon and was a biker. He really has some lungs, and I had trouble hanging with him at the top of the big hill. He is strong, but doesn't have the endurance yet. We pushed eachother, so it was much faster than I had planned. After a 2 mile cooldown, I was feeling good, but wondered what the expended effort would do to the weekly plan.

Thursday, 6/26 - The "Easy 10" I intended turned into a hilly, hard 10 due to the humidity and selected route. I think my body was trying to tell me something.

Friday, 6/27 - Planned to do speedwork at the track, but my body said, "No way". I went to the gym and did some spinning and stretching.

Saturday, 6/28 - Felt a bit better, and did 12 with the Goat. The pace was easy, and I was starting to feel life in my legs again. The weather was warm and humid.

Sunday, 6/29 - Very humid and warm. A good 32 miles at the reservoir in about 4.5 hours. I considered adding a couple more miles to get to 5 hours, but opted to give my body some rest. I'd like to get some speedwork in this week before the serious tapering begins.

Weekly Total - 84 miles. I'm pleased with it considering how my body felt this week. I was feeling overtrained and needed some rest. The next 20 days will be fairly tame compared to the last 4 weeks.

As many have said at this point, "The hay is in the barn". It's a matter of getting myself rested and strong over the next 19 days. There's still lots of prep work to do before heading north.