What Taper?

It's been a fun week fitness-wise, probably because I'm tapering for the half-marathon so all my workouts are "light", which also makes them a bit more fun.  I feel like a kid playing around with the grown-up weights.  On Monday I rode the bike for 20 minutes, level 5 (down from 25 min on level 8) and then did legs/shoulders/core - though fewer sets than normal.  On Tuesday I had an "easy" 3 mile run on the agenda.  I got on the treadmill with the intention to run at 6mph the entire time.  But as I neared the 10 minute mark I was getting bored so I decided to do 7mph for 1 minute out of every 5 minutes.  I did that a few times.  At the two mile mark I upped it to 7mph and decided to see how long I could run at that pace (8:30 minute  miles) and after a few minutes I got the wild idea that I might run the whole mile at 7mph.  I didn't start feeling taxed until I was at the 3/4 of a mile mark, and you know I wasn't going to back out then.  So I kept running, and breathing, and thinking, "I'm going to do it, I'm going to run a mile in 8 minutes and 30 seconds."  And I did.  And there might as well been a crowd of people cheering me on at the end I was so inspired.  It got me to thinking that I need to let go of any idea that holds me back - I shouldn't place any limits on my ability because who knows what I can do if I keep pushing and growing and working hard? 

Of course this was supposed to be an easy taper run.  So much for that.  I was still 4 days away from the half marathon so I think I'm ok.  That night my mom came over and I ended up tagging along with Miguel to his pool league (as in billiards, not chlorine) night.  It was at a dud of a bar but I still managed to have a bit of fun with a couple cocktails and the jukebox.  When the league was over we stopped at Yack-in-the-Box and I had way more food than was necessary.  Two tacos, a $1 burger and an Oreo shake.  I know, I know - not going to hit that goal weight this week, right?  The only bad part is the burger.  I really didn't need or want the burger, I ate it because it was there.  Silly girl.

Wednesday was a day off from exercise, other than the painful neighborhood walk I took with the kids.  Painful because halfway through Marek decided he didn't want to ride his bike and tried to kick Myra off the scooter.  When I wouldn't let him take her scooter he decided that he wanted me to carry him.  I couldn't carry the bike, his helmet and him so he threw a major tantrum the whole way home - walking behind us screaming and crying.  He even tried to get in front of Myra and I and block us from walking.  Sheesh - I am not used to these full on tantrums, thank goodness they are rare.  I got a few looks from the neighbors but I surely wasn't going to kill myself trying to carry him when he was being so unreasonable.  Good thing our neighborhood walks are short. 

I went out to dinner last night with some mom friends - Michelle and Michelle. Yes, there were three Michelle's out to dinner together.  We're going to start exploring new restaurants together. I had a couple beers and dinner, topped off with coconut ice cream.  It was very high calorie I'm sure but not crazy big volume, I wasn't uncomfortably full. I'll call it the beginning of carb-loading (though it was actually a protein heavy meal).  I read that starting today I should be eating 90% carbs at every meal. I don't think I can do that!

Anyway, that brings us up to date.  I have a 2 mile run on the plan for today.  It's going to be hard to go easy for such a short distance.  Tomorrow is another light bike ride (level 5 for 20 minutes) followed by some easy strength training.  And then Sunday is the big day. I'm shooting for 11:00 to 11:30 minute miles.  I'll be thrilled if I can pull that off.  I probably won't post again until after the race so wish me luck!