I’m not experiencing the same kind of taper crazies that I normally do.  My thoughts are that it has to do with the overall more laid-back and no-pressure atmosphere of ultra races.  When I run marathons, I feel the pressure to perform, and to perform fast.  But with ultras, it’s not about racing others to get a fast time.  It’s about proving to yourself, and only to yourself, that you are capable of dreaming big and achieving big.

But on Saturday, I won’t care about my overall time.  I won’t care if I finish dead last.  What I will care about is finishing the race and enjoying every single one of those 50 miles.

I’ve added an extra rest day for this Monday (and next Monday) to cut back on miles even more.  Just a short bike ride to work, but nothing strenuous.

10 days out from a race is typically the last day I do any hard workout. That’s enough time to reap the physiological benefits without taxing myself too much for the race.  I ran up to the track to join the November Project Sprint Tuesday crew. Felt good through all the intervals, but I did slow down a few seconds on the last two.  I covered almost 1/2 mile each time. Total 9.75 miles

I was so happy to be back at full strength for class today after having to modify everything last week.  I worked up quite the sweat going through Robyn’s intense pyramids. Afterwards, I had a nice slow jog along the 606 before heading back to EDGE to eat breakfast and get ready for work.  I had my usual Cherry-Berry post-run smoothie and tested out a new superfoods granola recipe!  YUM.  Total: 5.0 miles

It was a very grounding yoga class for me.  Again, last week I was still feeling off, but this week I was back on the mat and ready for action.  I focused on staying in the moment and not worrying about the next exercise, a mental strategy I have been using more and more.  Staying in the moment is how I plan to run on Saturday; just focusing on the current mile I am running and not about the miles I have ahead of me.

After my great start to the morning on Thursday, my day quickly spun to the other side.  My purse was stolen, and in it was my wallet, work iPad, and other important belongings.  I was fine physically, luckily I wasn’t mugged, it was stolen out of my shopping cart. but I was emotionally drained.  So when Friday morning came and my alarm went off, I craved a quiet and peaceful run on the trails, away from the noise of he city.  As a result, I decided to push up my sandwich run and do my trail run on Friday and recovery run on Saturday, leaving my 6 miles and strength for Sunday instead.  I headed out to Waterfall Glenn for my last long run before the race.  While I may have benefited from hugs at November Project, this was a mind-clearing and nerve-calming run.  Total: 12.0 miles

Pushed up my recovery run to follow the trail run from yesterday.  Mentally and emotionally, I felt much better.  Still very upset and addled about being robbed, but at least I had cleared my head.  My parents, brother and I went out to brunch and then I got some great news.  MY PURSE WAS FOUND! And EVERYTHING was still in it!! I couldn’t believe it!  It was all thanks to some dedicated employees.  There are some truly remarkable people in this world.  Total: 5 miles

Made up my 6 miles from Friday today.  Just a typical bread and butter kind of run.  I was in such high spirits from getting my belongings back that I was probably smiling the whole way.  Total: 6.10 miles.

This was the least amount of running that I’ve done in MONTHS! Since the week after the Chicago Marathon according to Strava.

My plan for my final week of training next week is just 10 miles before the race on Saturday! I’m proceeding with caution since I’ve never done a 50 mile race before. I want to make sure my body is as rested as possible to ensure a peak performance on Saturday. I’ll have 3 rest days (Monday, Thursday, Friday), an easy 6 miles on Tuesday, and an easy 4 miles on Wednesday.  What am I going to do with the free time? Recipe test 🙂

Happy running,

Becca