Taper Begins

It has been a long time since my last post; however, I have been busy running. I have been running between 80 and about 95 miles a week the past 2 months and am just now starting my taper for BigHorn, which is in two weeks. I feel good about this last cycle of training . . . here are some of the highlights:

I put in a couple of really good 40 mile mountain runs through the foothills surrounding SLC this spring, which were both in the 8,000 feet of vertical range (I calculate vertical pretty roughly simply looking at major climbs and not worrying much about smaller up-downs). Both of these runs brought me to the top of Little Black Mountain and consisted of some decent amounts of variety in terms of technical terrain. These ended up being my longest runs since Antelope Island -- I had planned on completing another 50 miler at Pocatello last week, but the conditions forced the race to be shut down by the RDs at mile 32.

I have been way impressed with sunrise moments on top of Black Mountain this spring -- on two or three occasions in May, I ended up at this point in my run just as the sun rose above the peaks further east . . . there is something special about this summit since it reaches towards both natural and urban spaces. It is kind of like a summative view of the foothills where so much of my running takes place (especially in the non-summer months).

And there has been some speed work . . . for a while I was actually doing traditional speed work on a track and everything . . . it seems like I generally found myself in a 3 week on 1 week off pattern with speed work of some sort or another happening this spring although that seems to have kind of run down . . . I will try to do a fartlek or tempo intense run one day next week to make sure the cardio intensity doesn't fall too much during my taper. I am once again avoiding the start-stop nature of traditional speed work. Not sure if it is a rational thought or merely one of those coincidence makes evidence things, but I am generally suspicious of traditional speed work and injury . . . besides being on the track is one less run done on trail.

The most important thing in terms of running this spring has been the overall good time I have had. I have not experienced much in the way of mental burnout, which sometimes happens to me as I peak for longer races. My theory has been that a more gradual increase in mileage has allowed not only my body, but also my mind to become accustomed to the stress of training . . .