Putting the finishing touches on training, otherwise known as a TAPER

Since my last entry I’ve had a lot going on I wanted to blog about, but life’s been to busy to seat down. On the non-running side I finally got the addition to the home going, they should break ground next week.

Work has become nuts, lays off are coming and my Bureau is about to be down sized by 2 detectives. If the County cuts are above 50 million I could possibly be demoted and sent back to Patrol. Obviously morale is way down, it’s hard to be upbeat at work about the Big Dance when guys I know are being demoted or laid off. Sadly this is nothing new, I know of other runners who have been laid off or had pay cuts; it’s a very scary time.

Training update:

I was able to keep a high load in my training since my last entry. My last long run was the Auburn 50K. It was an ass cracker, 2X up the K2, (aka: The Training Hill). I think my Garmin said the elevation gain for the day was 7,000ish. The course was also a little long so extra miles (yea!!!). With the uncharacteristic cool weather we’ve had it was only 75deg, but high humidity made it interesting. I was drenched in sweat and had to keep the fluids flowing.

I had my last performance test on the 28th of May; it was a real confidence booster. I had had improved across the board, my aerobic cruising speed improved the most. With my latest HR valves in place I’ll be using them to keep me on track at States.

I feel I'm as prepared as I could be. I look forward to seeing what shakes out on June 27th. As I posted before the #1 goal is to enjoy the race more this time and finish. #2 Is of course sub-24hrs.

Shoes:

I have my shoe issues solved for States. The Vasque Blur will be my shoe of choice to protect my feet. I will switch to my Nikes later as the trail mellows out. After looking at my past shoes issues I determined I needed a more cushioned shoe with more foot protection. I appear to use up my feet on rocky trail and descents.

Tapering:

I’ve put together an actual plan to my taper for this year. I will be reducing my running without becoming stale, (I hope). I looking at my race report from 2007 I noted how dead I felt at the start of the 2007. Looking at my logs I think I might of actually de-trained a bit before 2007, (yeah I cut my running that much in 3 weeks, I think I was scared of the race).

Hopes and Dreams:

The weather in the area and on the course has been awesome. I’m hoping it stays cool like this up to race day. I have two reasons for wanting this:

#1 It will enable an already stacked elite field to go at it that much harder.
#2 It will make it that much easier on average Joe’s like me to have a good day.


Until next time

AB