The Surf City Taper Begins

Have I mentioned how lucky I feel to be a runner? Especially on winter mornings like this past Sunday. What a way to kick off my 2-week taper for the Surf City Half. The course will be much like where Hubby and I run our long runs. Up and down the Pacific Coast Highway and through surrounding beach communities. We'll just be further south, racing up and down PCH. If this gorgeous weather we've been having holds up, we should be running in perfect racing conditions.

This is what we get to experience driving along PCH through Malibu as we make our way to Will Rogers State Beach which serves as our starting point. This time of year is particularly beautiful as the sun rises a little later in the morning than Summertime. Such a peaceful way to reach to our destination and get mentally prepared for the miles to come.

Our Start and Finish at the beach. PCH to the far left (not visible), the Pacific Ocean on the right.
The sounds of waves crashing against the shore is audible for about the first mile.
That's me off in the distance on the left side of the path.

Just after finishing a really strong final 14-miler this weekend.
 My last LSD, kicking off the taper! I'm ready for race day!

I changed my long run playlist for this one. I added back in some older songs that I used to run with when I first started training for long distances. I felt a renewed sense of excitement; almost re-living those days when those songs popped up. "Oh Yeah!" "This song used to really get me pumped up!" "Why did I take this one out?" It was an unexpected mental boost. I particularly enjoyed the added benefit of reflecting on how far I've come these last few years. I might have just finalized my Surf City Half soundtrack!

Highlights from the iPod: Hell - Foo Fighters; Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine; Lap Dance - N.E.R.D.

I'm backing off on my Marathon training plan for the next two weeks to allow for the taper. Instead of running twice on Tuesday, I'll replace one of the sessions with an hour of Yoga. As my weekday schedule calls for total time spent running, not distance, I've reduced each day's Marathon schedule time by 25-30%, but will replace the 'lost' time by including a little speed work just for this week. Next week will be very short, slow recovery workouts.. I learned how important the taper period is for me personally when I was physically unable to run AT ALL for the entire week prior to the 2010 Disneyland Half Marathon - and still set a PR!

Final words for today: Last week set my highest weekly mileage EVER by about 2.5 miles. Total miles run = 33.2!!!

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