Embracing The Taper

Ah,the promised land.....the running taper three weeks out from a major race,along w/ the Garmin perhaps the greatest thing to happen to running in my humble opinion!
Technically I was having the same week as the previous week,a 4 day/50mpw w/ another 20 miler on the weekend but only because the week b4 didn't allow for a 5th run but this coming week will only be a 3 day/40mpw and the following week a 2 day/20mpw so yeah.....taper.....

Tuesday 10 miles
Two concerns going into this one,my right upper thigh after last Saturdays collision and a six hour flight to Seattle Saturday afternoon and a five hour flight coming back Monday morning......
Neither thankfully proved to be an issue,my thigh was still a little sore but not as sore as Saturday after the collision and fatigue/jet leg did not get the better of me as I made sure to get my arse out the door as soon as I got home from work to kick off the week how I drew it up.

Wednesday 10 miles
More of the same,nice easy uneventful run,once again 10 miles feels like a "cheat" given the 12,13,15 milers I put in since early August but now I'm reaping the rewards of the hard miles early on in this campaign.
Coming hard on the heels of a Spurs loss I was it's fair to say "a tad pissy" so when I made the turnaround at mile 5 I was cognicent of someone coming up behind me,on some of my early runs when my fitness level wasn't there yet or some of my longer runs when I didn't relish a "pissing contest" I'd let these runners go by me.....not today!
Where my attitude had been"go ahead if you want it that much" this evening it was"you want it?????earn it!!!" and an impromptu tempo run broke out,I did hope said runner would turn off at Lloyd Hall...no chance,Art Museum....still behind me,Market St bridge still hard on me heels,yours truly had to maintain  tempo mode till I got to the steps of the South St bridge but it was good to know when I have to pick up the pace that gear is still there,post marathon that may get more of a workout....at 2.5 miles it was prep for the upcoming Rocky Run 5k on Nov 11th

Thursday 10 miles
Highlight of this run,the crisp evening air,I keep saying at some point,sooner rather than later my long sleeve running shirts and three quarter length bottoms will have to move to the top of the pile when I select my weekly running gear,based on this evening that could be as early as next week....or not,I only have two more mid week runs on tap next Tuesday and Thursday but I won't be playing fast and loose w/ my choices,I've worked too feckin' hard to allow cockiness to undo all my hard work thus far.........

Sunday 20 miles
Ever the Boy Scout I had checked the weather forecast on Saturday and saw rain, from 10am onwards SO I went to bed early Saturday evening and got up at 6am to get my 20 miler in in the hopes of if not beating the rain at least getting the run in.
Dug out a long sleeve running shirt and three quarter length compression shorts{if the fit below my knees are they really shorts???? feel free to discuss amongst yourselves!!!}
Out the door just after 7am b4 sunrise I was relieved to see other like minded souls on the Schuylkill footpath and Kelly Dr....I was also relieved not to see A 5k race gathering in front of Lloyd Hall....this joy lasted briefly as I began to see regatta folk ahead.....fuck!!!
I suspected this could be the case on Thursday run when I saw railing fences along the outside of Kelly Dr after Girard Ave bridge,thankfully at a little after 7.30am there weren't too many folk or rowing boats to negotiate around.....would I be so lucky on the inbound leg?
At a tad past mile 9 it began to rain,hey ho I have little issue w/ the heavens opening once I've gotten into a run,for some reason going out into the rain at the start of the run often causes me and other runners to baulk,as I mentioned to a co worker on Friday what am I going to do marathon morning if I wake up to rain? roll over and go back to sleep????
The rain at least kept the footpath along Kelly Dr reasonably clear.......w/ the notable exception of the section between mile 15 and 16 of my run where I was forced to weave around people,speed up,slow down etc,my biggest concern was not to expand too much energy there and have fuel in the tank for the final 4 miles.......
No worries a 2.28.44 finish off of 7.24 mile pace,10 seconds quicker than last Saturday but in much different conditions and dropping my mile pace from 7.27 to 7.24

A job well done today and a week of good  mileage under my belt,only 40 miles over three days on tap this coming week w/ one final 20 miler to tackle