Taper Time

Ah, the taper. Nothing but short runs, plus a lot of nervous energy, pondering, niggling doubt, boundless enthusiasm, and crazy planning and packing. Gotta love it ;)

Got out this morning for a quick 3 miles around the block, and then came home and stared at the TARC 50 entrant list and pondered the most recent course recon I've received. I feel like this training cycle has gone pretty well for me, with some solid efforts in the past 5 weeks. Training overall this spring has been a lot less fraught with doubt; this time around I haven't felt those same nagging thoughts about "can I?" like I did last year at Stonecat. I know this course is going to be tougher than Stonecat and that I'll likely be out there longer, but this time around, at least I have one 50 miler under my belt, which gives me a bit more confidence and a semblance of calm. It is not as much of an unknown, even if the course is more of an unknown. Does that make any sense? Then again, it's always an adventure out there, and anything from the course to the weather can turn the tides. I'll just have to see what happens.

I have a pretty wide window in terms of a goal time, as it sounds like this course is going to be a bit "slow." Most of all, I'm hoping to run strong and smart, and not go so fast on the first lap that I can't hold on for the second lap. No pacers allowed this time around, so it will just be me and my thoughts. Luckily, there are a number of spots on the "loop" where we can see our crew, which will be nice, so hopefully Ryan will be able to make a few appearances if only to chide me to eat and drink more :-)