Just 60 hours to go ..!

I have to share a story … I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t get to pick up my race packet today for Sundays race, since it will be a struggle to get there tomorrow and even on Saturday to get it, but i’ll have to figure it out somehow now. I left work to head out to the location they indicated on the VIA website where I could get my packet, and somehow I missed it when i was driving … then I got lost trying to get back to where I was supposed to go, then pulled out the GPS .. headed for the wrong side of town, got frustrated and then just headed home (since I wouldn’t have gotten there by 6pm anyway).. Oh well, lesson learned. I need to do a better job finding my way around I guess. Having to get your packet this way is probably the worst part of not having an expo of some sort, but i’ll do what i have to do I guess…

So I wrapped up my final real ‘run’ this morning, and again kept the intensity up while only doing 4.5 miles (in about 35 minutes) … man, its hard to cut the miles back, but I know I have to. I was reading some other blogs this evening and one girl actually doesn’t do ANY running for 8 days prior to a race … 8 DAYS of no running as a taper? WOW, thats a lot of time without running .. I could never do it. Tomorrow i’ll take a day of rest, along with just a short run on Saturday (maybe 4 miles) to stay loose and get mentally prepared before the race Sunday. Its supposed to rain heavy tomorrow and into Saturday, which is probably going to make the trails muddy for Sunday .. usually the trail is in pretty good shape regardless of the weather, but hopefully there will be a good dry-out before Sunday. I remember last year that it rained so bad the day before that the trail was expected to be soaked out, and it wasn’t, so i’m not expecting it to be any worse than last year..

I got my new shoes in the mail today, just in time to break them in before Sunday and when we head back into hardcore training for Baltimore, which is just 30 days off … speaking of that, I received a friendly email from the folks in Baltimore reminding me to taper safely as the date moves closer .. don’t worry, I will!

Its unfortunate that its getting cooler in the northeast .. today it didn’t even make it out of the 60’s .. and its damp. Its almost time to pull out some long sleeve shirts for my early morning runs (i’m expecting to need them next week). The summer went by just too fast .. I hope I can make it through the rest of training without catching a cold, I guess I just have to be smart…