Tapering down begins

Just a little update for ya. Friday I took it easy and ran 7 miles. The effort level was minimal, just enough to get the blood pumping. On Saturday I did a long run with the Kenyan Way group. Sean immediately told me to go slow during the run so I decided to take this advice to heart. The usual cast of characters were here, Andrew, Jeff, Chris, along with Dana, Rob, and Nick. Dana has been a guy that has been running with us the last month and a half. He has a goal of qualifying for Boston. Rob is an older guy who has run Kenyan Way for a few years who has dreams of running a 2:57. Nick is another masters runner who I believe runs a sub 3 hour marathon. I ran with Jeff and Andrew for all of my long run and we pretty much ran 7:30's the entire long run. After the 1st stop Nick and Rob asked what was going on, since they were used to us leading the group. We just told them we were just going to take it easy today and then let them go about 15-20 seconds in front of us. By the middle of the run Nick finished and said his goodbye. He is going to run the Disney marathon on the 8th. I only ran 14 miles while Jeff and Andrew ran more. During the end of our run Chris sort of took off. I believe he has been having the itch to lead one of our long runs for quite a while. That was the last I saw of him. As I completed my long run and was stretching by a tree, Dana asked what happened, as somehow we got separated because he took the correct route and we made a diversion in the opposite direction at one point. I think he had aspirations of leading the run and finishing first. He noticed everyone was running slower. I told him people were tapering and were not really concerned about running fast or finishing first. He said he was tired of training and wanted to go back to racing people at the park. I laughed and we said our goodbyes.

Sunday I did 9 miles really easy. My legs felt a little stronger than it has in a while and allowed me to run pretty effortless and strong, although I didn't really waste any extra energy. I ended up averaging in the mid 7:30's and ran progressively faster till I finished in the low 7's. The cool front came in right in as I was finishing my last miles which felt quite nice. Before my run I did a little mini jump rope session. I did 1 repetition of 15 jumps on each leg. Next week I'll add another session and add another 10 jumps for each leg. The idea is to strengthen each leg and to sort of simulate running and develop a spring type of lift on each foot while running. We'll see how this works out in the coming weeks and months.

This week I will be doing about 51 miles total. The lowest number of miles since September. I will also be getting my first rest day in probably a month. Woohoo! Things are looking good this week. Monday I will probably do some speed work depending on how I feel. I only have 7 miles on the schedule. Wednesday I also have speed work as well. We'll see what I decide to do. I prefer to try to have both speed sessions and see how I do in both sessions. That's it for now. I must get ready for bed.