Taper week!

Can I get a gospel A-M-E-N?!

I have been looking forward to taper week for a while now. Some people hate it, but I enjoy resting my body while letting my mind re-focus.

In all honesty, I think people get hurt because they don’t take a break. Training for a marathon is not easy, and I am by no means an expert, but you have to think of your body as a machine. It will tell you when it’s malfunctioning. You can either choose to listen and fix the problem, or let your system crash. My advice, preventative care. If you miss a training run it’s not the end of the world. Take care of your body and it will take care of you.

The reason for my soap box on preventive care is that poor Mr. B is battling a cranky foot and it’s probably more then likely due to hill work and mileage. He has been such a stud when it comes to all of this running. Sometimes I forget and push to hard because I have already run a marathon. I am bad coach.

This week’s short runs mileage is low, but we would rather take it easy now then be in pain at the end.

Our millimeter recap:

MONDAY:
Me: Rest
Mr.B: Rest.

TUESDAY:
Me: Rest.
Mr. B: Rest.

WEDNESDAY:
Me: 3 miles. First time I didn’t feel like falling asleep on a mourning run. This was hands down the best 3 miles I have run in a long time. We were under 9:30 the first mile and a half followed by 8:30’s the rest of the way. We ran the Invesco loop again, flat and shady.  No wonder we had a great run!
Mr. B: 3 miles.  It felt good to get back to some sort of routine.  I’ve spent 3 of our last 4 training weeks away from home so I was really looking forward to having a normal morning run in our hood.  My cardio is finally out performing my legs so we can really let our legs swing.  It feels so good to have a long, smooth stride!  Honestly something I never would have thought possible considering the longest distance I had run before this April was a 10k.

THURSDAY:
Me: Rest.
Mr. B: Rest.

FRIDAY:
Me: 4 miles. I decided to run in Wash Park in the afternoon because I was craving a run in the heat. I know, probably not the best idea, but I really just wanted to sweat out the toxins. My run went by fast! I haven’t been wearing my ipod shuffle since running with Mr. B, but since I was alone, I rocked out! I might have had a mini dance party to Ke$ha in the middle of the park. Either way, it was nice to have a ‘fun run’ that didn’t feel like training.
Mr. B: Rest.

SATURDAY:
Me: Rest.
Mr. B: Rest.

SUNDAY:
Me: 4 miles. It was eighty degrees by 9am when we arrived at the High Line Canal Trail (HLCT). This run was all about getting Mr. B’s foot checked out. The HLCT is all dirt, flat, and has plenty of shade. Perfect for long distance running. The first mile was about a 9:30 pace. I was sucking a little bit of air but I think the first mile always sucks. The next 3 miles we ran and walked just to make sure we weren’t making Mr. B’s foot worse. I think we made a great decision in running the shorten distance because I think any further and it would have caused serious damage.
Mr. B: 4 miles.

REFLECTION:
Me: I needed a week of relaxation. Resting, re-focusing, and having a short fun run has made next weekend’s 14 miler seem a little less daunting.
Mr. B:


Catching up?
– prairie fire training week one
– prairie fire training short run: week two
– prairie fire training long run: week two
– prairie fire training short run: week three
– prairie fire training long run: week three
– prairie fire training short run: week four
– prairie fire training long run: week four
– prairie fire training short run: week five
– prairie fire training long run: week five