Week 17-- A tapering we shall go!

So after 16 weeks of training culminated in my big 20 miler last Sunday. Week 17 brought a downsizing in mileage from the mid 30's of the last few weeks to the mid 20's this week and next.  The theory behind a taper is your body rests and recovers while your reduced training base holds your fitness in place, so on race day you are primed, rested and fit enough for a big effort.

It is interesting to note that one of the symptoms of tapering that you have to fight is the urge to go out and run, seeking the runners high, so to speak, which oddly enough despite being under the weather most of the week, I have had.

The residue of the long run was pretty much gone by Wednesday, with some significant soreness in the front, lower thighs from the hills at independence grove gone in 2-3 days.

So for the next week I will be training at altitude in Arizona on a vacation to visit the desert and most specifically the Grand Canyon, we are staying in a lodge right off the south rim of the Grand Canyon which I am looking froward to! So there will not be as much blogging from there.

I have a 10 miler Sunday in Phoenix and a few scattered 6-8 miles runs next week and then I return for the final push to the Wisconsin Marathon.