I will say upfront that I am not very good when it comes to taper week. I largely attribute this fact to ignorance. Last racing season, I didn’t really understand why rest was so important before a race and how to strategize during taper week. I’m not saying that I’m that much more knowledgeable right now, but I do have a plan this time around:
Sunday – Easy recovery run (6 miles)
Monday – Rest Day
Tuesday – Light speedwork (Coach Tony recommended it) (4 miles)
Wednesday – Easy recovery run (5 miles)
Thursday – Easy run (4 miles)
Friday – Rest Day
Saturday – Shake out (2 miles)
Sunday – Manhattan Half Marathon
Until about 3pm today, I felt like that was a solid plan. Before 3pm, I banged out my last mid-distance run before the race. The run was generally uneventful. As it was my first time out since the killer 2×2 group run on Thursday, the first 4 miles this afternoon were predictably slow and sluggish. The balance of the run improved as the blood started moving again. Other than a burst to finish off Cat Hill, I kept it in recovery mode. In the end, 12.5 miles at 8:50 pace.
Things looked good until I came home. Earlier in the week the twins worked thru a bout of 24-hour flu. They are good to go now. Since it was such a minor virus, I thought the rest of us were in the clear. Nope. Now my wife is suffering with flu-like symptoms and my oldest was hit hard with it while I was running. Awesome!!!
Guess who is next???? Stay tuned! Let the madness begin.