So it begins...

I'm now into the taper portion of my training for the Napa Valley Marathon. That means two things:

1. The official countdown has begun! 13 days left. It's starting to really feel real and I'm feeling confident and prepared. If you've done your training correctly, tapering means you've prepared yourself as best as possible and it's now time to rest up a little to gain back some energy for the big day.

2. The rest of my training runs are going to suck and I'm going to feel frustrated. That's just how it goes. If Taper Depression isn't already a term, I'd like to copyright it now! I feel frustrated just thinking about the fact that I will only be running 20 total miles this week. My "Long" Run for the week is only 8 miles. Frustrating. So far this year 4 miles has been my shortest run, but after tonight's 4 miler, 3 of my 6 remaining runs will be short 3 milers. Frustrating.

I know how important this part of training is and I do not take it lightly. I will stick with the training plan and because of that I will be successful. Over the course of a few months of building up mileage you become very accustom to increasing your efforts, so 2 weeks of decreasing effort is mentally and emotionally draining. I'll get through it and I know it will be well worth it when I cross that finish line. But for now, I must apologize for my frustration and short temper while I have my decreased mileage.

Tonight was 4 miles (stuck back on the treadmill to add to the frustration). It was an easy run for sure, but mentally a challenge since I wanted to run further. I just need to keep in mind the fact that in less than 2 weeks I will be one of the less than 1/2 of 1% of Americans that have run a marathon.