In just over two weeks, I'll be running my "A" race for the fall. I've been training all summer (I know, I'm surprised too) and I'm currently loving my taper. OK, I'll be honest, I may be too good at tapering. I should run at least one more double digit run in the next few days, but I'm feeling decidedly "meh" about it. But whether I run more or not, the race will be over and done with in 17 days. So, what then? I have some ideas swirling around... Finally run that ultra marathon I've been talking about. There are several not too technical trail 50ks coming up, but I'll be honest, I'd love a timed loop race. I know they exist, I'm just not sure if there are any close enough (both distance and date wise) to take advantage of my … [Read more...]
Final Countdown to MCM
Three more days until it's time for my 3rd and final Marine Corps Marathon. (OK, I reserve the right to run the 50th in 9 years if I want to.) I'm as ready as one can get, but I swear I'm all over the place mentally. On the bright side, I did manage to vote on Tuesday and go for a run down to Iwo Jima. I also worked on my DuClaw recipe for this month. Lesson learned: unsweetened baking chocolate is not the same thing as bittersweet chocolate. Also? When you chill it, it turns into a brick. So, I had to go to the store to get the right kind of chocolate and discovered that going to the store when you are tapering is even worse than when you are hungry. But on the bright side: BEER! Yes, folks, it's time for the … [Read more...]
Taper Quirks: I love a good taper!
Confession: Unlike most runners heading towards the Marine Corps Marathon, I am not yet in taper land. I have to do one more long training run before I head to taper. Instead of running long this weekend so I could start my taper, I was single parenting Shoo while he played in a soccer tournament (Beer Geek and Jones were off on their own adventure.) My Saturday consisted of driving lots of miles at stupid early in the morning, watching two games in the rain and then heading home to try to recover (which may have involved meeting a friend for a beer and a bit of vodka.) Sunday was supposed to be more of the same, but after another stupid early drive in the rain, I got to watch Shoo play for two minutes before his head slammed into the … [Read more...]
Weekly wrap – I taper even when I don’t train!
Last week was... interesting. I didn't run a whole lot, but I'm going to claim that I was tapering for next weekend's RNR DC. Or maybe I just had a lot going on and my running motivation ran away. Something like that. Also, it was a very typical Virginia March - I ran in a tank top one day and it snowed on another day. Tuesday I got a lovely package in the mail from Skirt Sports - skirts in the Free Love pattern! I, of course, immediately put one on and headed out for a 3 mile run, where I stopped to vote. It was a beautiful day and I quickly shed my long sleeve shirt and ran in my tank top. Wednesday my treadmill arrived. Yes, that was the highlight of my week! Thursday I decided to take a break from running and went to … [Read more...]
Taper? I’m supposed to taper?
My first half marathon for 2014 is in less than two weeks. I'm running the Rock N Roll USA half with 1000s of my closest friends. Or 15 or so moms from Moms Run This Town. Whichever. The big discussion lately has been about tapering. How much? How long? Should you really do it? Personally, I love the taper. And I've seen how well it works. For both of my marathons, I followed Hal Higdon's training plans and tapered exactly as he recommended. I arrived at the start line fresh and ready to go. I won't be tapering for this race. In fact, I'll be running two of my highest mileage weeks leading up to this race. I also won't be *racing* this race. My current focus is on running the five half marathons in five days. To do that, … [Read more...]
