November 8th, 2009
I was today, when I got home from my Long Run all covered in gnats. Crazy run, btw.
Catching up the last few days, I got out late on Friday for my 12. Not genuinely late, but with daylight savings time it was, I ran the last hour or so in the dark, which was really fun! I’d always wanted to do that but was too scared of rapists and murderers in the park at night, but since I finished around 6pm, it wasn’t really freaky, still lots of people around.
Yesterday, I did 10 easy but was not feeling it. First run in a long while that I just wanted to pack it in early, but I’m stubborn, so I completed it. This is when I realized that I am officially tired now. So I was wondering how I’d do today.
Today’s run was 17 “Steady” as per Hudson. I swiped my aforementioned mentor’s (A Muse) recipe for his last LR before taper: MP+5%-10%, though again, I was feeling on the tired side and gave myself a pass to go slower if needed. I ended up with 8:05 avg for the run, though the funny thing was I had done a hard reset on my Garmin 205 but forgot to turn autolap on, so as the run progressed, I was all “damn, but I am steady!” because the lap pace hardly veered. Turned out it was one long lap for the whole run, and when I put it in Sporttracks, saw that I’d done some 7:50s and 7:45s in there.
The bad part of the run was I brought my small water bottle which I emptied at around mile 11, and by mile 13 I was ready for a fountain, but the stupid Parks commission removed them all, as they do each year, so I was dying of thirst for a major portion. Luckily, about 1 mile before home, there’s one fountain they leave on longer which saved me for the final trudge.
And with that, finishing off an 81.57 mile week, I’m finally entering taperland for real. Bring it on, baby!
On to my most favorite new ingenious item that I recently bought: Now that I live in a tiny apartment, when I wash my running clothes there aren’t places for me to hang them in their wet state, so I was putting them in the dryer for a while there but that’s the quickest way to ruin sportsbras and other stretchy stuff (you know when elastic gets crispy? no gooda). I was looking at drying racks on Amazon, but those accordion floor ones suck, they don’t hold that much. And then I found it…Drying Rack Mecca!
This cheap thing ($8.96 before shipping) is sturdy, holds 20 items and doesn’t take up a bit of space. Me love.
Posted in 
Tags: 
ooohhhhh I LIKE THAT!
I also love running at night and am lucky enough to have willing pals so I’m not out there with the boogiemen.
Luckily I have room enough for one of those accordian thingees tucked in a corner. But, if I didn’t, that contraption there would be at the top of my shopping list. Very cool.
Um, yeah, I don’t think 81 miles counts as a taper week. :-) Good luck making it through the real part that starts now…
You made it to taper safely- congrats! I’m really excited for you! BTW, what is up with gnats? I thought that was more of a summer/humid thing? That’s just gross.
Welcome to the dark side. Funny about the Garmin. Were you not a little bit suspicious that it was so stable? I was wondering when your taper would actually start!
Better to be the windshield than the gnat. Well done on the long run and the week Flo – I like 131 kilometres – it’s palindromic, so good luck.
That drying rack is very cool. I wonder how it’d look with all my jocks and socks hanging up there.
Seriously its taper time already? I thought you were just getting started, I mean 80 plus miles is great but I wanted to see 90 miles, LOL. I kid, I kid…..you are a running machine Ms. Flo.
Cheers to great taper thoughts, and well rested leggies.
Ok, I admit it – I have nothing to say about your Drying Rack Mecca. I was just sitting here getting kind of psyched about Philly and thought I’d drop by and leave you a comment. Looking forward to this thing, hope the weather is nice (for the record, this will be my 4th marathon now, the previous 3 have all involved some degree of rain).
Progman, I consider that a great sign, it can’t rain for you on 4 marathons in row, right? That’d be too crazy. (although 3 is pretty crazy, too)
Ewen, now all I can think about are your dirty delicates.
Excellant running for the week!
Ooh, Ewen stole my comment! At least you didn’t eat any of the buggies, or get them in your eye (I’ve done both, but not on the same run, luckily).
LOL about the Garmin – I wonder if I’d be steadier without autolap on, since I’m often speeding up or slowing down the last 0.2 miles to try to make it end on the right pace, which throws me off for the next mile. But then, you already know about my poor pacing skills!
No BarbBQ, it was just great minds thinking alike.
Hope it doesn’t keep you awake at night Flo. By the way, they’re not THAT delicate, or THAT dirty.