(G): It seems without even trying every week ends up with a theme. This week was rebound. I managed to bounce back after an uneven and inconsistent training the week before.
As I have a race on Saturday I knew I had to get back into the swing of things fast. I hit Tuesday hard with an 8-mile run and when I arrived to teach yoga that evening, I could feel it. Thankfully, it was gentle yoga.
Wednesday I climbed some steep treadmill hills and managed to make 6 miles feel like 8. It’s a real skill I have.

By Thursday, I was pretty well beat up so I opted to take the day off from running. But Friday it was back to it with another 8-miler. Then Saturday, I followed it with another 10.
This is what happens when I have a bad week 3 weeks out from a race. I get the crazy idea I can make it all up in one week.
That’s the mistake many of us make. You can’t really make up the training, just like you really can’t catch up on sleep.
All you can do is jump back in and hope for the best. Oh, and you can push too hard and leave yourself exhausted.
Over the weekend, I did both.

But now, I am officially on a taper. Great things happen when I am either tapering down or recovering from a race. I do other things besides run. Sunday I made butternut squash soup, fresh salad from our garden and read a book!

But back to it on Monday. I ran 5 miles and rebounded on the trampoline. The rest of the week is a slow reduction in miles and intensity in hopes that come Saturday I am Wonder Woman. OK maybe just a slightly better woman than I am on an average day.

Finally, though, the weather seems to be cooperating. The current forecast has the day’s high at 68 degrees!!! After all this heat and humidity that sounds like a dream. I am a much better cold weather runner so who knows what can happen on a cool race day, with Mercury out of Retrograde, and the start of a new month?! Maybe something amazing.
Or maybe not. Either way it will be fun! It always is… even when it’s not.

Swaggy J hasn’t run a step since his fateful ankle sprain about a month ago. I doubt there is running on his agenda for Saturday but he’s going to give it his best with some speed walking. And I have no doubt at some point my running legs will be traded in for walking so maybe I can catch up with him.

I will be sure to bring you all the details of the MOX 12-Hour Endurance event next week. And then it’s all eyes focused on the Nashville Ultra/Lowi & G Running Reunion.

(L):  A couple things stood out for me while reading G’s report.  The taper and the idea that you can’t make up for not training.

Basically, I feel like I, too, have been on a taper week although I am not sure what I am tapering for.  If you read the torture report with any regularity you know that I continue to have a difficult time keeping my mojo going.  Maybe I need a training partner, maybe I need motivation, maybe I just need to get my butt in gear.  At least Swaggy J has a valid reason for having to walk his next ultra.  I have no excuse.

We have 6 weeks left before the Nashville Ultra, which leads me to the part about not being able to make up for my lack of training.  I am half prepared. I am pretty sure I have 15 miles in me. The other 15?  I am not sure where I am going to find those.

I was really planning to get some big mileage in this last weekend and then I had a volleyball tournament all day Saturday and a recovery day on Sunday.  Recovery?  Let’s just say Saturday was a long day.

It’s a new week though and I tend to work well under pressure.  The longest run I did while training for the Outrun was 20 miles and that was about 2 weeks prior to the race.  As I said last week, if I can get in a couple of those I will feel much better about the upcoming race.

Good luck to G and Swaggy J this weekend.  Go rock the Mox!

Sunshine & Sarcasm,

Lowi & G