The taper is upon me

Tapering is an interesting time for marathon runners, well me at least. Everything seems to slow down around you. For me it is much more of a mental slow down than physical. Race day becomes inevitable, and the reflections begin. Knowing that the toughest part of the training has been logged, you've beaten up your body as much as you could, and now that body deserves some respect.

Last week Thursday was my last over 10 miles mid week run, I did 12. It was a pretty hot day and by the time evening came I regretted putting off the run. I knew I should have ran in the cool of the morning. That particular morning I had to wake at 4am for a shift at the gym where I work. It was a short shift, but so was my sleeping time... come 5:30pm I was looking for any excuse to back out of the run. I didn't back out, but did decide to wear my MP3 player, something I haven't done in over a year. I'm one of the purists I guess who like to hear my feet hitting the ground, the sound of my breath, and focus on my surroundings. But, I needed a little outside motivation that day, so I brought Bono, Eddie Vedder, Live, and some other energetic musicians with me.

The result - it was one of the best runs of my life. As stupid as it sounds I felt like I was in a music video. I charged up hills and ran with intensity. It felt great. It was one of those moments where you fall in love with running all over again, and apologize repeatedly for threatening to leave him after the race. Then you make a promise that even when times get tough, maybe you'll slow the relationship down a bit, but never give up on it...

Now, I return to my project today, which is finishing my final planning of my world wind running trip. I don't think I've blogged about it yet, so here it goes. After Big Sur, we are spending a couple days pampering ourselves in this elaborate house in Carmel and then spending a couple days where I left my heart, San Francisco. Wednesday morning after the marathon, Bill is flying back to Florida, and I fly the red eye that night to Greensboro, NC. From there I will take either a train, bus or automobile closer to Bristol (either Asheville or Boone) where my friend Beth will pick me up. Then Saturday AM I'll travel to Black Mountain, NC (just east of Asheville) where I'm participating in a 24-hour relay. I did this race last year, called Run for Africa, and I swore I would not miss out on it this year. I'll be running four 5 mile laps over the course of 24 hours and will be surrounded by really great people. Our team is 10 in number, and come from a few different states. It will be worth it, but my legs will need some TLC come May 4th.