Taper Time

Well it's official...time to taper.  On Saturday I was eager to get out there and do my last long run before the race (only three weeks to go...eek).  I met Deanna, her friend whose name now totally escapes me and Tina.  We started off and got two great loops of the Boulder Res completed. Tina decided to take a break since she's not in training while De, her friend and I ran Eagle trail...bad idea.  The wind had been picking up but by the time we tried to do Eagle it was ridiculous. We were running straight into it and at one point, no matter how hard I was trying, I was not actually moving forward. A little over a quarter mile in we turned around.  Ugh!  With 11.28 miles down, I headed to the gym.

Torture...pure torture. That's the best way to describe the gym.  When I got there I had to wait for a dreadmill which irritated me. Come on people, you're barely moving on the thing while talking on the phone. Get off for those of us that are actually planning on working out!  Anyway, I finally got on and walked abotu a quarter mile to get my legs back in running mode, 2 miles down, so hot so I take a break.  Another mile and a half down, gel digestive failure.  Back from the bathroom, half mile in my IT band totally seizes up.  I hope off, stretch and roll on a foam roller. At this point these two women in the abs area are staring at me.  I casually tell that they my legs is not actually held together by the tape but it's simply keeping my knee cap and ankle in line and that I'm doing my final long run before a marathon. They looked at eachother, looked back at me, and tell me that I'm crazy. At this point I totally agreed with them.

I pick my sorry looking ass up and get back on the stupid running device. I walk a half mile to get my legs warmed back up. A mile and a half later I'm spent. I just cannot take the heat of the gym, the stupid people on the phone and my freaking IT band seizing again.  I gather up all my crap and head home. At this point I'm exhausted, frustrated and grumpy. Poor Josh was on the receiving end of this...sorry babe.

I roll on my foam roller again and head back out to brave the not-as-bad-as-the-Res wind.  With tears in my eyes I finally finished the run. All 21 miles of it.  Other than the last marathon I don't think I've ever been so happy to be done running.  Had I been able to do it all at the Res it would have been over with in about 3.5 hours...with all of the dividing up, driving time, waiting time, etc. it was like 5 hours.  I still survived and I am feeling pretty confident going into the race.  I'm even thinking about joining the 4:15 pace team...we'll see how I feel when I get to Nashville.

The rest of the weekend was spent nursing my sore legs and enjoying family time. I did get my long awaited Blizzard right after church on Sunday. So happy Lent is over and I can have my sweet indulgences again!

P.S. Thank you to Kirsten, Brandon, Jill, Grandma Walker, and Kim Greenlee for donating this week!  You guys are amazing!