It's Taper Time:)

Three weeks from today I will have completed my very first half marathon!!  That's insanity at it's best.  Twenty months ago I couldn't run 21.1 minutes and in three weeks I am going to run 21.1k.  Who would have ever thought I had it in me?  Well I do and it's going to happen!!!  Before that though it's time to taper.  From now until race day we cut back on our mileage to let our very tired legs recover and repair.  This week I run 10k tomorrow, do hill training on Thursday and an easy 12k on Saturday.  Hee Hee, I just said easy 12k!!  A month ago I wouldn't have thought that was possible but after what I did on Saturday 12k seems pretty easy. 

Tomorrow I have to get up at 5:30am to complete my run.  That's going to be tough but I really feel like I have to get every last bit I can done before race day and Anna has soccer tomorrow night so I have to run in the morning.  I'll survive and by the time the girls are in bed tomorrow night I'll be beat but it will all be worth it.  This week is working out really well for me to be honest.  Normal soccer day is Thursday but for some reason they changed things this week and her game is Tuesday.  This means that I do my plain run alone in the morning and can make it to the hill work out on Thursday.  It's like the running gods were helping make the soccer schedule.  They didn't help much with my long run this past Saturday but I also think that there was a good reason I had to run alone.  I will miss next weeks speed work but I can improvise that one on my own in the morning on Thursday.   After that it's race week with a couple of easy runs to keep the blood flowing leading up to race day.  I'm glad that things are going to be busy this next couple of weeks it will keep my focused. 

My long run on Saturday also taught me a couple of things about the way my body and brain work.  I learned that I have absolutely no appetite after a really long, hot run and that it takes me a full day before I can really eat again.  I learned that when I do eat after that long run I do not want carbs, I want protein!!!  I tried to eat a slice of pizza and ended up picking the toppings off and leaving the crust.  I think what I really learned is if I want to lose the rest of this weight I need to run 15k+ everyday;)  Ok clearly that's not an option but it would do the trick!  Seriously though I learned that I can push my body and it will push back but my brain will win in the end. 

So here's this weeks picture.  As usual I am happy with this weeks results and hope that this momentum can keep up!!!