Karen and I hiked the Sourdough Trail today. We’ve been up there almost every weekend this year. Not much snow but great weather.

I ran 80 miles in 6 days this week. 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, and 20. Time to begin my taper tomorrow. And to focus on intensity. That means I’ll attempt to maintain my runs in heart rate zones 3 and 4 – including zone 5 for maybe a mile or two. For me, zone 3 is mostly in the 130 beats per minute range, zone 4 in the 140s and zone 5 the 150s.

I skipped my strength training this week to make room for those two-hour, 12-mile runs during the work week. I’ll add strength back in on Tue/Thur to allow my legs to recover for speed on Wed/Fri. And I have one more 20 mile session next Saturday before tapering even further to allow yet more intensity. I’ve never run seven 20 milers in seven straight Saturdays before.

Hard to say if this training plan will position me to run much faster than a 9 minute pace in May. I’m running just a little under a 10 minute pace now. That’s what the next two weeks are for though – speed.

The last point to touch on is my weight management plan. I reached the normal weight range today at 168 pounds. That’s a milestone. I’m just 3 pounds away from my goal with 3 weeks to get there. On paper, I’m on target to reach 160 but tapering my miles will taper the weight loss along with it. The taper window is so exciting in any training plan because it means I’m reaching my goals and the race is near.