Easy Eight

Mileage
Today: 8
Present: 628
Count: 91

I don't run the paper, but when it comes to the final two weeks before a big race, I do try my best to taper properly. Of course there are as many theories on tapering as there are marathon training plans, so I just roll with the one that makes the most sense to me.

Too much rest and the rust can start to form. But after months of running tired, not taking it easy isn't doing you any favors.

So the schedule called for an easy eight today. It was anything but easy.

Still shaking the dregs of this head cold, Maura and I slept until 11am. A glorious first in what feels like years. Maybe I was still asleep, or maybe charging Bernal on Thursday took more out of me than I thought. But whatever it was, these eight easy miles felt like anything but.

I ran OK out along the Embarcadero to the Bay Bridge where my watch clicked four and I turned back. But the rest of the run was a slog. I couldn't keep a pace -- any pace. I'd go from low sevens to the low eights seemingly without a change in effort. Then back again and my body groaned.

Its a good reminder that at the very least, one week is not enough to recover from a hard run. Or perhaps that trying for a KOM up a mile hill two days before a race doesn't count as tapering.

Whatever it was, these were not eight easy miles, but I am thankful I still have enough week to rest before it matters.