It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Taper Time!

Next Thursday I fly to Phoenix, Arizona and in 8 days I’m running the Black Canyon 100k ultra marathon.  This is my first 100k race and my first point-to-point event.  No loops, no crew, no pacer – just me and my Hokas in the desert for 14+ hours!  In order to flush over 1,000 miles of fatigue from my legs I’ve been in taper mode for the past week and it’s amazing.

Primarily I’ve found so much more time in my days since beginning to taper.  Instead of running for 5 hours in the mountains I have time to actually do some real work and also catch up on trail running videos on YouTube. 

The hard part of the taper is holding back, especially with the abundance of energy coursing through my veins.  I ran for an hour yesterday and repeatedly had to prevent myself from 1,000 foot ascents, traversing technical terrain (don’t want to sprain an ankle now), and screaming down single-track switch backs. 

I know Black Canyon is going to be a tough race and I expect many challenges – heat, hydration, nutrition, cramping and mental crappiness.  Looking back on my last ultra (Sulphur Springs 50 miler) I’m happy I suffered through the many lows and pushed out to the other side for a strong finish.  If I can do the same in 8 days at Black Canyon and finish in under 17 hours to gain entry to the Western States lottery then all the training, sacrifice, injuries and foam rolling will have all be well worth it!