I HEART TAPER!

This week is taper-time :-) Finally! 15 weeks down (almost) with 1 to go. I started my plan Jan 12, and before Jan 12 I was preparing by running several 8 milers. Sunday my legs were toast. I wanted to MTB at Lock 4 with Jamie and others but the rain ruined it once again.

Monday my legs were still toast - however I managed to get in a 4-miler on the treadmill that morning before work due to the never-ending rain. Oooh.... legs. They felt like they weighed 80lb each!!! Still broken down from that 20-miler. This run was designed strictly for burning out some lactic acid in those 80lb bad boys. It was a slow one -- like 48 min or something. I didn't care!! It's taper time baby - anything goes :-) So Tuesday was going to be a rest day until I walked out to my car during lunch to discover the weather was bliss! 59 degrees with a slight breeze. Hmm... I've got some old running clothes and shoes in the car. I just started changing in the car and opted for a 5 miler. Still slow - 44:30. So Wed??? Well it was definitely a rest day! For sure! It worked out GREAT!!! By Wed night my legs felt normal again. I'm not sleeping at night though. I think I am worried about the marathon.... as well as some other things going on. Mean people suck. Uncaring people suck. Selfish people suck the worst though. Selfishness is incurable. Granted.... each and everyone of us has selfish tendancies, but some are just over the top "ALL PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WERE PUT HERE FOR ME." I don't like it. It sickens me. Broken lawn mowers suck. Not being able to sleep at night sucks. I am up every hour. I even tried good ol faithful white zin last night - still didn't work. I keep seeing myself at mile 21 - and it's not a pretty sight.

So, today I rode 19.5 miles on my road bike at lunch. I did the Staggerwing Du course plus about a mile. The wind was brutal - on the way out AND on the way in. But mainly on the way in! Somehow I managed to keep a 17.8mph average. While that's not too hot on that particular course.... it was better than I expected with the winds that made me too uncomfortable to get in my aerobars on the way back! It was supposed to be an easy spin anyways - just a litle cross-training and #1 goal was to preserve legs for the marathon next week. I didn't push a harder gear than I should have. I kept it comfortable.

Tomorrow? My taper plan says "7 miles!" Boy - I can't wait to just run 7!!!! Then it's going to get even better by next week! I'm hoping this taper is going to be the magic I need for a finisher's medal next weekend.