I loath tapering for any race. One would think that after a hard training cycle, the 2-week taper before a 100-mile race would be heavenly. But with 5 days prior to VT 100, when I finish a short, easy run… it’s like someone who regularly gorges on hamburgers and fries for lunch opting for the salad. Totally unsatisfying.
Yesterday/Sunday (the day of the week that is typically my long-run day) I ran an measily 5 miles and then staved off taper madness by whisking Little Boy to Crane Beach. (Mr. P. had to do some off-hours database maintenance). Even I get lazy on beaches.
Crane Beach Frolic
It’s T minus five days until VT 100, and I’ll admit my fear. 100 miles is long. Vermont is hilly, hot and humid. Suffering is inevitable.
My consolation is that I finished the VT 100K (basically the last 60 miles of the 100-miler) two years ago… so I know what to expect from the course. I’m also in exponentially better shape than I was 2 years ago, which is funny because I certainly wasn’t in bad shape 2 years ago — I did finish a 100K — but I’ve been much more rigorous about hill/elevation training and I’ve gotten faster, leaner, meaner. Of course, all of that might mean little if my knees/feet/hips/back starts screaming at mile 40 and I have to mentally deal with “60 more miles”. Or, if I start puking.
I have 30 hours to finish (the leading women usually finish around 19-20 hours). And my only goal is to finish. My optimistic finish time is 26 hours, realistic is 28 hours, and 30 hours is the cut-off time. So even my realistic running time will have me running from 4am Saturday morning until 8 am Sunday morning.
Mr. Kitty Cat felt little pity, as he instinctively inhabited a box in which new running shoes arrived:
Cat loves box
“What seems to us bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.”
– Oscar Wilde
