Time to taper

Two week taper for me from now until the Birkebeiner Trail Marathon. I am in much better running shape now than I was in the Spring when I ran the Eau Claire Marathon. During the 3 months before my Spring taper, I averaged only 24.3 miles per week. I was doing more cross-training then but it didn't work for me. I needed more miles. A month before Eau Claire I ran the Ron Daws 25K in 2:14. That was a really hard race and I could not get a nice pace going which is exactly what happened in Eau Claire.

Over the past 3 months I have averaged 40.3 miles per week which is enough for me as it has kept me injury-free. I've learned several times that when I go over 45 mpw, I get hurt. Yesterday I ran the City of Lakes 25K in 2:03 [Garmin data] and felt very good and had an easier time running at a faster, and constant, pace. Those races are hard to compare except for the distance but I feel that I'm a much stronger runner now.

It's funny that I just punched in my COL 25K 2:03 into the McMillan Running Calculator and it predicts a 3:35:44 which would be a Boston Qualifier. I won't be seeing that at the Birkebeiner Marathon which is not certified and I'm sure has many more rolling hills than I can count on my fingers and toes. :-) Pulling a goal out of thin air, I think a 4:00 marathon is what I'll shoot for.

Taper:
6, 6, 6, 6, 0, 9, 0 - this week
6, 4, 4, 0, 2, race - next week

--Mark