Taper from Hell

First of all, RESPECT to my brother in law, Martin Philip, for completing his first 50 mile ultra at the Vermont 50 yesterday. He called me after getting back home with a brief recap. Sounds like he certainly battled some demons out there but kept making progress and finished despite the tough course conditions; muddy and unusually warm. Not to mention the 18k feet of elevation change. Martin is all but solely responsible for getting me into the trail running and ultra scene. I'm very happy for him.

The last two weeks have been a study in contrast. The week of the 11th through the 17th I was able to put in 50+ miles including a solid 22 miler. The next week was a little different. My knee really started acting up. Swelling, sore and stiff. I struggled through a couple of 5-6 mile runs, never feeling comfortable. I cut some short and slogged through others. The week ended with a so so 13 miler. Ended up with about 25 miles for the week. I know I'm tapering for the marathon next week but c'mon. I decided to use some discretion and listed to my body though. I didn't really push the pace and if it felt "off" I cut runs short. Monday at the track I jogged two laps and quit. Lots of ice, massage (foam roller) and some ibuprofen got things nearly back to just being normally bad instead of bad bad. This past week I tallied about 30 miles. The weekend was the first back to back run in several days. Having at least one day of rest between runs seems to have helped settle things down with my knee. I plan on going to the track tonight for a 3-4 run at pace, tomorrow off, a few easy miles Wednesday and then chill until Sunday. Maybe a couple of super easy jog miles Saturday morning to shake things out after traveling Friday. 

So these are the whips I selected to run TCM. The Brooks Racer ST5. I have logged a couple of runs in them so far and like them quite a bit. Noticeably lighter than my trainers (Asics 1160, Brooks Ravenna and Defyance). Thanks to Drew and Christian at Rush Running Co for helping me make my choice. At least I'll look fast, right? But they seem to have enough cushioning in the heel for me. They are pretty firm up front compared to my usual trainers since that is where the cushioning has been cut back, thus the weight savings. Flexible, breathable and the upper fits like a glove. There is also a little posting for overpronation. Brooks markets this as a long distance trainer/racer. I will utilize them for races and speed work only. I imagine I won't get 400 miles out of these bad boys though.