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Taper...I guess I am in Taper

On Monday Coach pretty much ended by marathon denial by asking if we could talk race strategy on Tuesday after the group run. It's ok, I needed to be thinking about it anyway. So this has been the first week of taper.

Monday - marathon taper doesn't change swimming. 4,100 yards in the downtown pool after work. My Garmin 920XT is being replaced since the altimeter isn't working so I don't have a good swim watch option right now. I am just noting stop and start time and counting/using the wall clock for rest intervals.

Tuesday - PBT group run, this time a ladder - 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 hard with 2 min recovery between and warm up and cool down. I ran 6 miles total. This felt good. As usual for Tuesday, even after changing clothes post-run I was freezing an hour later. Coach and I talked through the race. I am still pretty much approach it as "we'll see what happens" - we know there's a goal time out there, but talking about it hasn't been helpful and really there are other things we're doing too like testing different nutrition and run/walk for the fall.

Wednesday - since I had to work at night, I did both workouts in the morning at Jordan Y. We woke up to 2" of snow and I decided that I would do my post-swim run on the treadmill to avoid the risk of falling or pulling something since we're close to the race and I don't have a great track record this year. 2,550 yard swim and 4 mile run.

Thursday - I rode at home in the evening. 19 miles total with 15 minutes at L3, 10 min at L4, and 5 min at L5.

Friday - I swam in between a few hours of work and volunteering at the Sam Costa half marathon. Swim was at the Jordan Y. There was a fire alarm part way through, but fortunately it was a false alarm and I didn't need to get out of the pool. 3,800 yards. Still no watch.

Saturday - I volunteered as a course sentry for Sam Costa. David does it every year, but I am normally running the half marathon. This time I was out there...wearing a lot of clothes and sitting in a chair with a blanket wrapped around me. I was FREEZING. It was 32 degrees and windy and SNOWING. We had about 4" at home when we got home at 1 PM. 8" by 6 PM and still coming down. I decided not to run and moved my Sunday ride to Saturday. 25 miles riding the NYC Triathlon virtually. It is not a flat course, but it was a good ride and the route has video as well as the map and topography. 

Sunday - I knew if I wanted to run in the morning before church I probably needed to be started by 8 AM. I decided the Monon trail head at 96th would give me the best opportunity to safely park, have bathroom access, and perhaps have a clear trail in at least one direction. Carmel had cleared their trail head parking, but not the Monon. Indy had cleared the Monon, so I headed south. At some point between Nora and Broad Ripple the Garmin decided not to have satellites for a half mile, so that wasn't helpful, but I knew the distance between points because I run this so often. I ran to Runners Forum in Broad Ripple and back - 8 miles. It was the last test of run/walk before the Carmel marathon on Saturday. Beautiful morning with the snow and the blue sky and sun. But cold and with a headwind headed back. I had a good run and made it home in time to shower and eat before Palm Sunday service.

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