I'm now fully into the time all endurance competitors (I'll not call myself an athlete) dread: the taper. During this time, every twinge is a pulled muscle, every niggle is a catastrophic injury, and so on. During my Ironman taper, I was basically a jerk but now knowing what I'm in for, will hopefully make it easier to handle.
I did my longest non-Ironman run last Thursday, a 20 miler with my training partners. Felt great, had a good handle on nutrition and hydration but did find myself with a hot spot on my right foot that after 20 miles turned into a nice blister. It's since popped but I'm not sure how it's going to do with only 2.5 weeks until the KDF Marathon. I've been advised to slather the area with Body Glide, use Anbesol on the affected area in order to mask any pain to survive the 26.2 miles, put duct tape over the area, etc. I'm hoping that some shorter taper runs will build a decent callous so it won't be an issue.
Leading up to the big day, I have a 12 miler and an 8 miler as my long runs along with some shorter 3-4-5 mile runs during the mid-week training sessions. After some good results at both the Rodes City 10K and the Papa John's 10 Miler, I've decided to hook up with the Asics 4:45 pace team. They essentially run a steady pace and if you stay with them, you'll finish the marathon in 4 hours and 45 minutes. I also like the fact that the 4:15 and slower pacers usually walk through aid stations, which is a strategy I normally employ anyway. My initial goal was 5 hours so hanging around with that pace team should help me reach my goal and there is a 5 hour pace team coming behind me if I end up slower than expected.
Finally, on Sunday, I'm doing the last of the Shelbyville Winter/Spring Tri Series events. This one is a 400 yard pool swim, 16 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run. I tried some new swim drills this week that really seemed to help so hopefully it pays off on Sunday with a good result. I'll post an event recap on Sunday/Monday.
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