Allegedly, I've started my taper (taper: a recovery phase of training prior to a major competition). But a glance at my schedule makes me wonder about the sanity of my Coach. With 18 days until the race, I've got a speed workout tomorrow of 4 x 1 mile intervals (7:00-7:05 pace). And then on Saturday, I'll be tackling a tempo run, with 2 miles to warm up, then 10 miles at 8:00-8:20 pace, followed by 2 miles to cool down.

Taper? What taper?

(Heh. I have complete and utter faith in my Coach, as my training thus far has shown dramatic results. I'm just being melodramatic, for effect.)

With all this hard work, I'm feeling a little tapped out creatively, so here are a few links to check out, in case you haven't been paying attention.

100 Beginner Running Tips

Articles by your truly, at Complete Running:

Essential Race Day Jargon for the Beginning Runner

Five Tips for Running Your First Race

Taming the Race Day Butterflies

Enjoy!

Um. Yeah.

Ooops?

From the get-go, I knew things weren't going to go smoothly for me for the Saturday marathon-training long-run. I had 22 miles on the schedule, the last big monster to face, and both of my regular running partners weren't going to be there with me.

But that was OK because I also had the Willimantic Athletic Club runners to run with, right?

Right. Except that they were starting their 20-mile run at 5:15 a.m. On a Saturday.

Let me repeat that: 5:15 a.m. Saturday.

Normally, during the week, I can make it out the door for a 5:30 a.m. run...but that's for 5-7 miles...no food required (or digestion), just a quick cup of coffee. However, a 22-miler requires planning - food, coffee, digestion - which takes at least 45 minutes for this body to accomplish.

So 5:15 a.m. was not happening for me. But wait! They could meet me at 6:00 a.m. at Diana's Pool (not related to me in any way). Great!

But then, I couldn't get any information on the 20 mile route that the running club was taking, so I couldn't pre-drop any of my fuel/hydration along the route. Back to Plan B, I figured just I'd run with them as far as I could and then I'd head back to my car to refuel and make the extra loops alone. I hated not being able to visualize the route, but since I can't always plan what happens on race day, I have to learn to be flexible during training too - right?

I arrived at Diana's Pool just in time to meet up with the group. I could hear their voices as they approached from a side road, and then in the pre-dawn darkness, POP, POP, POP...white shirts popped out on to the road. They stopped to spit off the bridge in to the river (a tradition) and I literally jumped in to the crowd as they passed by.

Let the long run commence.

About a half mile later, I hit the wrong button on my watch and cleared out the info for the first half mile. Sigh.

Then. At the 1.61 mile mark, the battery died in my foot pod (which sends all the data to my watch). The worst part of this was not that I was now clueless about pace and distance...the worst part was that I MEANT TO CHANGE THE BATTERY LAST NIGHT but talked myself out of it with an "Oh, it will be fine!"

Phooey. Note to self: battery dies every four weeks...CHANGE BATTERY BEFORE MARATHON.

The watch has stopped, the pod has died and I keep running...forgetting to restart the timer. I mean, at least I can time the run and then calculate the miles later, right? So I ran for a few minutes, before it dawned on me that I needed to re-start the timer. DUH.

OK. Let the long run commence, again.

We get to the first 'water stop' and I decide to head back towards the car with two other 'short course' runners, and sadly watched the four 20-milers head off without me.

The three of us had some cool 'nature' sightings...with a blue heron popping out of the bushes to fly right out in front of us...then a turkey family toodling down the road...plus a doe and two fawns crossed our path. The morning mist sat on the farm fields and looked truly picturesque. It was amazing. Worth getting up extra early to see.

We tried to estimate how far it was going to be back to my car and decided that the total distance for my first loop would be around 8.50 miles, based on the slow first miles and the two big hills we tackled.

I headed back to my car, and arrived there in an estimated time of 1:33:34, which seemed about right given the pace and conditions. I didn't think too much about it. Instead, I spent AT LEAST ten minutes changing out the battery in my foot pod. The battery cover gets stuck and I have to fight with it...I ended up having to use my teeth. Since I was on unfamiliar roads, I really needed to know the distance, especially as I had plans to pick up the pace for the final four miles of the run.

Let the long run commence, AGAIN.

Back on the roads, I headed over to my favorite park and mixed in some trails, in an attempt to slow myself down, as my pace seemed a little fast. It was a glorious, perfect blue-sky morning, with neighbors calling out to me as I passed by. I finished up that 9.62 mile loop in 1:28:30 (9:11 pace).

I stopped at the car, ate some GU and restocked the hydration before setting out for the final four miles. Coach had instructed me to pick up the pace to 8:00-8:30 once I got to mile 18...so that's what I did. I cheated a little bit by picking a flatter portion of roads to run on, but I had worked over some tough hills and felt that I had earned a little flatness.

I cruised through those last miles as such: 8:01, 7:58, 7:45, 7:44. I got very dizzy during the third mile (7:45)...enough to make me notice. I promised myself that if I felt any glimmer of 'tunnel vision' I would stop immediately and rest. I tried to slow the pace, but as you can see, my last mile was the same pace as the dizzy mile. I'm as baffled as you are.

After cooling down...I drove the 8.50 mile-estimated route to check the mileage. Imagine my surprise when it registered at 9.85 miles (and confirmed with gmap-pedometer). Huh. How about that...so I guess I didn't start my last four miles until 19.47 miles in to the run. Yikes.

Afterwards, I was a little tight in spots, and a little sick to my stomach...but overall, I felt pretty good. The biggest surprise has been the lack of soreness. I did use Accelerade again this week after not using for a few weeks...so maybe it really *does* make a difference in muscles soreness.

I'm getting pretty excited about this race, people. I've never trained this hard, and felt this good. It's so close. I can taste it.

Four weeks. Twenty-seven days. BQ.

I'm ready.

[Edit: for those that like numbers are much as me, the total - 23.47 miles in 3:33:34]

After posting my race report last Monday night, I realized that I hadn't really said much about my interactions/experiences with all the different RBF (Running Blog Family) members that were at the race.

When I questioned myself about it, my first instinctual response was: 'Well, we were all so comfortable with each other..it was as if we were part of a running club that meets weekly for races and training runs.'

I pondered that for a moment. Then I had a light-bulb moment and realized that the RBF has moved from being merely a 'virtual' running club, to an honest-to-goodness-in-the-flesh running club.

Sure, we may not see each other *every* week, or even once a month. And certainly, we'd be hard pressed to all gather at the same location for a 'team meeting.' But as our numbers have expanded over the past two years, it has been exciting to watch the meet-ups become more frequent, and the friendships become deeper.

We support each other at races, sometimes with an encouraging comment or email, or maybe a picture of a clever banner...and sometimes we are even there in person.

We share training tips and advice. We occasionally share a little *too* much information about our various issues and ailments. We discuss bodily fluids, bloody nipples, blisters, chafing, and injury treatment as if we were medically trained professionals.

We know about each other's non-running lives too, and offer our support, congrats, condolences, etc. as appropriate.

We send gifts to each other. Sometimes, for no good reason. We swap recipes. We discuss the latest gadgets and gear.

Just like a running club.

Our club is no longer virtual. All we need now is a mascot that we can send to all the different gatherings - a good will ambassador of sorts that can appear in all the pictures and partake in all the festivities.

Any suggestions?

The short version:

Since this is *the* 20K National Championship, I must mention that the top female was Marla Runyon in 1:08:28 (5:31 pace) and the top male was Ryan Hall in 59:29 (4:47 pace - faster pace than the male who won the 5K). Leaves me almost speechless.

To sum up my race, I'd like to quote 8-year old Jared, who shared his race strategy with Jodi Latina, from WTNH: "In the beginning I ran slow," he said. "In the end I ran fast."

That was exactly how I handled the 20K this year.

The long version:

Another amazing New Haven Road Race. Each year, I arrive at the race feeling as if my expectations of the race might be too high, that I have the race built up to mythical proportions in my mind. Yet each year, I have a wonderful time; the course, volunteers and spectators are outstanding and the weather always cooperates.

Jon and I enjoyed some pre-race fueling together, sharing a small pizza and a bowl of pasta with meatballs. I was treated to one of Jon's famous chocolate truffles after dinner, before we stopped for a cold, sweet treat at Cold Stone Creamery.

We later confessed to eating AGAIN before going to bed. Heh.

I experienced my typical pre-race lack-of-sleep night and arrived at the race with over an hour to spare. Slowly, members of the RBF appeared from all different directions - Bill and David arrived first, then Danny and his friends. Soon after that Jon appeared, then Michelle, April-Anne and Beth. The meet-ups continued, as one of the Swimming Chicks, Leah, tracked me down, with her posse of runners in tow.

With 20 minutes until the gun, I journeyed into a nearby church, seeking a short-lined restroom. Interestingly, one of the restrooms in the church was located actually IN the main area of the church, through a concealed door right next to the altar. It almost seemed sacrilegious to use it. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Being the Tigger that I am, I was far to bouncy and anxious to wait for everyone to be ready to line up for the race so Beth and I walked over to join the crowd. We inched our way through the crowd, determined to not get caught in the back of the pack, and managed to catch up with a few more of our runner-friends - Sharon, Tracy and Jack.

The race started and we began the slow shuffle/walk/jog over the mats. Just as I was marveling at how much smoother the crowd-management seemed this year, we hit the bottleneck where the three lanes whittle down to two lanes and the pace slowed. Soon after, I found some openings, made my move and got into the groove.

I was amazed to tick off the first mile in 8:17. Right on pace.

Coach and I had decided that I should start slower for the first half, with a pace between 8:20-8:30, with the option to increase that to 8:00-8:10 if I was feeling strong. For the second half, I would focus on getting the pace to 7:50-8:00, with the option to pick up the pace depending on how I was feeling.

So that was pretty much what I did. I was alone for most of the race, which made the tough spots a little tougher than usual, but I focused on analyzing the forms of other runners, the smiles of volunteers, and saving those moments that brighten up the race (Like when Sharon ran off to the side of the road to hug two old ladies who were cheering us on).

I was feeling the heat towards the end, wishing I'd worn my visor instead of my hat...and I knew I hadn't hydrated enough throughout the race, as one of my still full fuel-belt bottles later revealed. I started the final-two-miles checklist: Bagpipers, famous waterstop, Rocky theme-music, kids with ice cubes, firehouse...final stretch.

I saw/heard both Jon and John cheering as I approached the finish.

As I crossed the mat, my friend Charlie was unexpectedly there, giving out high-fives. Then I went through the typical chip-removal and search for water. It wasn't until I saw Sharon, that I checked my watch: 1:36:47 - which gave me a PR of about 5 minutes. Hoo-rah.

Eventually, all of our runner-friends were cheered-in and reunited. We drank beers and water, while eating truffles and swapped stories and smiles in the September sunshine.

Another perfect New Haven Road Race. Thanks friends, for sharing the day with me.