This Taper Sucks.

Usually the week after a long run you can back off a bit - not so with this taper.  The shin soreness after the long run hasn't went away - so I took Tuesday off.  I did the 2x3 mile 'strength run' on Wednesday. Pacing was solid: 7:19, 7:24 and 7:16 for the first interval.  7:25, 7:31 and 7:13 for the last one - overall pace was 7:22 - so about 23 seconds slower than a 7:45 MP pace.  The first mile was usually into the wind a little, while the last one was at your back - which maybe why the last mile was faster.

I took Thursday off as well - and then got up for my 5:50 10.2 miler.  This felt pretty awful - I still have shin soreness - which did ease up as I ran - and I may have been suffering from flu-symptoms from my flu shot yesterday.  The first miles down to, and around alewife were fast: 7:49, 7:30 and 7:38.  Then I had a nice long climb: 7:48, 7:54, 7:53 and 7:46.  Then two more downhill miles: 7:29 and 7:32.  The uphill was 8:40 and no fun at all.  I feel like complete garbage now.

That was a tough taper workout - and nothing really gets easier for the 5 days.  I do my normal weekend running: 5 and 8, then a 10-12 miler Monday and my last strength run next Wednesday.  At that point - about 11 days out - the taper starts to kick in - so I'll try running hard until then.