Let the Taper Games Begin.

22 miles for the day, 47 miles for the week.

BAM.

I can’t even express how happy I am right now. I woke up feeling really nervous about today’s long run. I really wanted the last long run before taper to be a good one so that I’d feel really strong going into taper.

And I do.

I ran a mile to meet up with Stephanie and we set off for the George Washington Bridge—because I clearly didn’t get enough of it a few weeks ago.

After a lot of wine the other night and probably still being a bit dehydrated this morning, the run started off on the rough side. We were keeping a good pace, but it wasn’t easy by any means. We kept saying we should slow down…but didn’t. Trying to slow down on purpose? Kind of hard.

HI MOM! I ran into NJ—sorry I didn’t come home!

There are quite a few steep hills in the climb to the bridge, and I was not a happy camper. By the time we climbed onto the bridge, I’d gotten really quiet.

I am not a quiet person. If am quiet, something’s probably not right. My legs were so freaking tight by the time we hit the bridge, and I thought I needed to stop for a second at the end to stretch or else the rest of the run would be miserable. I stopped to stretch and Gu in NJ, and when we turned back around, I was a new woman.

My legs were loose, and it felt like we were flying. It also helped there were no uphills left, and I knew I was that much closer to taper.

After we hit 18, and I knew I only had 4 left, I’m pretty sure I started grinning like an idiot.

Hello New York, glad to see you again, too.

The first two times around, I ran two twenty-milers, but this year’s plan called for 22, and in my quest to get my body used to running higher mileage, I was game for the challenge.

22 miles, 3:28:28. 9:28 pace.

My feelings of preparedness for this marathon change by the minute, but right now, I’m still feeling great about it after conquering a hard REALLY long run. I ran this 22 miles only 4 minutes slower than last year’s last 20-miler before taper.

Marathoners: what’s the most you usually go up to in training? How are you feeling about your training right now? How do you feel about taper–love or hate it?

A HUGE CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO RAN CHICAGO–ESPECIALLY JOCELYN, JESS, MARGARET, SKINNY RUNNER  AND MARY! Go recover…and then please write your recaps ASAP, thanks. And congrats to Monica on her awesome PR!