Taper Time Again etc....

Its taper week, and where some people dread the lack of running during a taper, I look forward to it. With 3 of the past 4 weeks with mileage over 100k I feel like I could use a break anyway. I peaked out last week at 111k. So now all we have to do is look forward to this weekend and running with snowshoes on for a marathon, or in Joan’s case a half marathon. No mean feat regardless of the distance, especially since the weather is to continue with the polar vortex type weather in and through the weekend. Other than that the training has been going well, as can be noted by the mileage. What has helped a lot though was the new treadmill. I will say Joan broke the old one, but only because she was on it when it stopped working. It could have been ready to go due to all the indoor activity lately.
We did some research and after shopping around picked up an AFG 5.1T treadmill from the Treadmill Factory. They impressed with their knowledge and the lack of a hard sell. What we weren’t expecting was how heavy the new one would be. Me and Billy had a real struggle getting the new one into the basement after removing the old one with ease.
So on Thursday we will off to Montreal after work to stop at Kate and Gary’s before heading to Vermont with them on Friday. Saturday is race day and hopefully we should be finished in time to head back to work on Monday! The course is a 6.5 mile loop that is basically one big hill…. up and down the other side. 4 times! From what I’ve read it’s the going down that will be the challenge. Trying to make it down in one piece.

After the snowshoe race we are supposed to be going to Cleveland the following weekend to do the Green Jewel 50k, my 4th year in a row for this well run race. The only unfortunate part is that it is all on pavement. At the moment we are approaching this race with the thought that if the weather is still freezing cold, we may not go at all. The Green Jewel tends to be a cold race when it is above 0 C, so if it is a lot colder it will feel miserable. We still hope to go and do it.


Another race that has just recently popped up on my radar is the Wall Ultra which takes place in northern England and follows the path of Hadrian’s Wall from Carlisle to Newcastle/Gateshead. So it would be a return home for me in some respects having been born and grown up for a few teenage years near the finish in South Shields. The Wall Ultra is 69 miles and looking at the website looks great and well organized. For those unfamiliar with Hadrian’s Wall, it was a wall built 2000 years ago by Romans to keep the Picts (Scots) out of England. My old friend Paul’s son Chris is planning on doing it this year, so I look forward to his report on what it is like. Since posting on FB about the possibility of doing this race to other expat friends have piped in about going too, Gary in Montreal and Dave in Cleveland. So right now it looks like 2016 may have to be the year for this race as Joan has plans for next year, also over the pond. Hopefully I can stay healthy and will still be running for another couple of years.