Taper Time

I was debating between a 22 mile run and an 18 mile run today, so I split the difference and ran another 20 miler. I could tell my running mileage has been higher than usual the past 3 weeks because I usually feel really good at the start of a run, but this morning my legs didn't want to run. They loosened up by mile 3, and I felt good for the rest of the run so that was really encouraging. I finished with almost the exact same time as last week so I'm really happy with my run. Best of all, my new shoes felt great and my feet and knees feel better than last week...and I don't have any nasty blisters.

Now I start my 3-week taper, although week 1 of my taper still has some decent training volume. My running volume will go down, but my cycling will stay high and my swimming volume will actually go up. Running is the hardest on your body so I want to back off on that so I can recover. Cycling isn't too bad, and I want to get in one more century 2 weeks before the race so I'll be getting in some long miles next Sunday. Swimming is the easiest on your body and you can recover quickly from it so I want to get in some long swims in the next 2 weeks to make sure I'm ready and I can swim 2.4 miles without it taking too much out of me.