The Final Countdown

8 days to go!  The taper starts in earnest.  Hmmm.  In order to taper, you need to start from a high amount of mileage.  Since I never really got to high mileage, it won't be much of a taper.  It's more of a rest and try to heal up.  My IT band is still a bit on the grumpy side.  I ran a track workout on Thursday which was 3 x 1600 at 5k pace.  I had planned on running the first one normally, then the second one backwards, and the last one normally.  Now, by backwards, I don't mean literally running backwards; rather, I mean clockwise rather than counterclockwise.  So, it's turns to the right instead of the left.  I figured that it would stress my IT band less.  Historically, I've nearly always run the "normal" way on the track.  After doing this my entire high school career, I found that I couldn't run as fast if I ran "backwards."  And so, after 30+ years of running on the track always turning to the left, it seemed as if I was doomed to run the Thursday intervals slowly.  I even contemplated doing them on the path in Fort Steilacoom park so I wouldn't have to turn, but I can't help running on the track whenever I get the chance.  So, after running the first one, and feeling some pain in my IT band, I steeled myself to run the second one, figuring that I would have a great alibi if I was slow.  Shockingly, I ran faster, and my IT band didn't complain.  One good turn (pun intended) deserved another, so I did the third one backwards as well.  I managed to descend that one, too.  Of course, I was starting from a relatively slow time, so descending was a good thing.   And... the added bonus was that it was sunny enough to wear sunglasses.  Will wonders never cease?

After a day off for travel to Bend, I did an easy 4 mile run on Saturday morning.  It was cold (30 degrees). And my IT band complained, even forcing me to stop and walk a bit when I was going down a hill and felt a really sharp pain in my knee.  Arrrgh!  Fortunately, it let up quickly and I was able to finish my run.  Then, I did some strides back and forth in front of Kenny's house.  I was imagining the dogs watching from the window, like they were watching a game of ping-pong:  "Look, there's Daddy... look, there he is again... and again...and again."