Tapertown!

OK folks, I am officially in Tapertown!

This is the last few weeks before the marathon.  My final long run was a 20 miler from the top of Paradise down 1,600 feet to Bidwell Park in Chico.  It was hot and awesome!  I ended at the pool at One Mile and jumped in with my kids.  (they drove down, I didn't make them run). 

I was hoping that the pool would still be nice and cold, but it was already warming up so that it didn't serve any longer as an ice bath. 

The next three weeks will feature dramatically lowered volume, but hopefully keep the intensity up.

I Feel The Need, The Need For Speed

This past weekend I was supposed to do my last long run before the Half Marathon.  I had scheduled a 17 mile run (thanks to Jeff Galloway's Half Marathon Training Plan).  I have been doing my long runs on Sunday mornings.  Howver, we were digging out of a snowstorm at the end of the week, which meant that all of the local running routes were iced over.  On top of that, our church was having it's annual business meeting after the Sunday morning service, which meant that my list of things to prepare was quite long.  Needless to say, there was no running in store fo me over the weekend.

Not getting in my long run on Sunday was an interesting experiment in my endorphin addiction.  I felt worse not having run than I would have had I logged a long run.  Grumpy, frustrated runner.

Thankfully, Monday was the President's Day holiday which meant a day day off.  The kids wanted to go see their cousins in Chico and I knew this was my golden opportunity to sneak in a long run.  "Honey, would you mind if I go for a run while you and the kids are at your sister's house?" 

My wife's sister lives very close to the beginning of Upper Bidwell Park.  I mapped out a 16 mile out and back route (basically run until the dirt road ends).  What a great run! 

I had my handheld GPS ready to go and I was going to track my splits and aim for a 10:30 min/mile.  Ooops, forgot to change the batteries in the GPS and it died a mile and half in.  I guess I will just run by feel.  The whole run took 2:32:45.  That works out to a 9:34 pace.  And it felt good too! 

Here's a few shots of the route.  This is the little dirt trail that runs along the paved portion of the road--why run on asphalt when you can run on dirt?



This is the dirt/gravel portion of the road.  The road less traveled (except for a few friendly mountain bikers).

Regarding the unpowered GPS--I feel a little like Darth Vader..."You've failed me for the last time!"

While I was out on my run, those nice folks at UPS delivered my new Garmin Forerunner 305.  So, now I can record my splits and other workout data without having to write it down with a pen and paper.  Woohoo!  This thing has a lot of features, I can't wait to try it out. 

Not today though.  Today I get to let my legs rest after their hard work yesterday. 

Into the taper I go--the race is a week and a half away!