Pre Race Thoughts

My taper this week has me feeling really good, which it should. Originally I hadn't planned on tapering and just training through this race, but when I looked over my previous weeks training I noticed something. I hadn't had a down week since AR50. You know what? I really needed a down week.

My training last week I put in 33 miles I think. Today I am feeling really good. My legs feel fresh, my mind is clear and focused and I can't wait to see how I do tomorrow. I am really using this race as a long training run to test myself and see where my training is at. The one thing about tomorrow is, it is suppose to be really warm, and I am not talking 90's I am talking well over the 100s.

Of course once I found out that it is going to be really warm I immediately set to work on changing up my strategy. At first I was going to do a bottle, but now with the heat I am most likely going to have to do my pack and possible pick up a bottle and use that to keep cool. I also readjusted my splits. I added a bit more time knowing the heat would suck a lot of energy out of me and slow me down. The good news is during training I have been running in the heat as I run around noon or a bit after so I have done a lot of runs in the heat, I even have done hill repeats in the sun.

For me it is about preparation and understanding that it is still doable I just needed to make some changes to account for the heat. I know I will be soaking myself at the aid stations to try and remain as cool as possible and I have been hydrating not just all week but that is a part of my normal every day life routine.

I am excited about tomorrow, but I am also very calm. The course will challenge me and being in a race will help keep me focused on the task at hand. My ultimate goal is when I finish this race to not be so destroyed that I can't immediately get back into training, because before I know it Tahoe 50 will be here.