Starting to taper

Thankfully I was able to complete the goal I set out for my training plan, which was to run 20 miles three days in a row. Surprisingly, the second day was the hardest and I ended up with a decent pace for the third. I ran 12 on the treadmill the next day though, and that was tough.

The key insight from the training is that this will be hard both physically and mentally. Kind of obvious, but this training told me what level of difficulty to expect. I also have to watch my immune system as I really felt it was weakened after such long runs. 

During the runs, I was thinking about the day when I decided to do this challenge. I had known about this event from the organizer, having run with him in Antarctica before. However, I had put it off as something too ridiculous and expensive until my wife brought home this art work.

The eight shoes in a circular structure made me think of the event. And while I didn’t think it was the universe telling me to do it, it brought it back to mind and I figured why not do something big like this while I still can. I also decided that if I was to do this, I would have to raise money for a good cause. Thankfully that part is going well too, and I’m so grateful for folks who have donated to help the Children’s Fund at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. I will post more in the new year about the benefits of those donations. For now, I’m going to do a final run in a 90 mile week and hopefully rest up with a crazy New Year’s Eve party.