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.

Four Weeks to Go!

Four weeks from tomorrow I will be running my first Half Marathon.

I can't wait! That means I only have two more weeks of hard training. After that I get two weeks of taper leading to the race. Can I do it? You bet! Last Sunday's long run was 13.4 miles, in the dark, while raining, and over hilly terrain.

Now, just because I can do it, doesn't mean I am taking the next few weeks of training lightly. Here's what the next two weeks have in store:
2/6 9 mile long run
2/8 6 miles with intervals (4x400, 2x800, bleachers)
2/10 7 mile tempo run
2/11 2 miles easy
2/13 15 mile long run
2/15 6 miles with intervals (2x200, 2x400, 2x800, bleachers)
2/17 7 mile tempo run
2/18 2 miles easy
2/20 17 mile long run

After that I head into my taper until the race.

Bidwell Classic here I come. My goal: finish! I'd love to come in under 2 hours, but finishing is the main thing.