My Six Month Taper

Coaching has really stunted my training. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE working with runners, helping them accomplish their goals. But between the Stronger Fitter Faster class, Let's Start Running class, Kids Run the Nation and the Runners' Cardio and Strength class, there's not a lot of time left over. On top of coaching, I have my other job as a Volunteer Coordinator for a local non profit. I love both of my jobs, but I don't end up with much time to get my own runs in. In fact, since I ran the NYC Marathon last fall, my longest run has been 15 miles last month... not very impressive for someone who calls themselves and ultra runner!

Tapering before a race is important. It gives your body a much needed break from all that you put it through from hard training, and you start your race feeling fresh and ready to go. A typical amount of time to taper would be 2-3 weeks. So it seems that my taper of 6 months is a bit excessive. Last Thursday, on a whim, I signed up for the Mind the Ducks 12 Hour Ultra. The race is tomorrow. What was I thinking?

I'm actually not sure why I'm writing about my complete lack of training and impulsiveness. Couldn't I have last minute signed up for a 5 or 10k? Even a half marathon I could have pulled off, but a 12 hour race?

Yesterday at the kids group, they were all making guesses as to how many miles I would run in the 12 hours. Kids can be so funny, the guesses ranged from 11 miles to 105! My goal will to be somewhere in between there ;)

So, what would you guess a 45 year old under trained woman could do in 12 hours? Stay tuned.... I'll give an update tomorrow night when I'm done!

Happy Running!!!!