With my first 100-mile race coming up in 10 days now, I figured it was worth a quick check in to talk about how I’m approaching this taper, both training and logistics-wise! So, with not a lot of time before race day, here’s what I’m thinking about:
Meetings of the Braintrust
I’m finally in town with my BFF/pacer, plus my pit crew of Peter + DW, so we’re having a lot of discussions about race day, and starting to get really granular on planning. Karen (my pacer and all-around ultra badass) and I are running together, and while we do that, we’re talking about the race and also practicing with me following her in the dark on trails so we’re ready for race day. But we have a plan for a dinner meeting this week with all of us going through our optimal schedule so we’re all on the same page.
Eating + hydrating
As my best friend, 100-miler/Bruce Trail FKT holder and pacer for this event tells me, these are the days when I shouldn’t even think about calories. Instead, her advice is to try to pack on a bit of extra weight if possible, or at least just keep the volume of intake high. That doesn’t mean carb-loading (or at least, it doesn’t just mean carb-loading). I’m also adding extra protein and just a teensy bit more of everything to my plate. I’m also trying (semi-successfully) to keep my hydration status solid.
Sleeping
Banking sleep is one of the biggest things I’m doing right now. It’s not a ton of extra, but I am trying to get to bed early and wake up more naturally, not dragging myself out of bed. And this is especially important for me since getting down to Bentonville meant 2 nights of fairly crappy sleep, so getting back on track was key.
Hitting trails
While we’re in Bentonville, I’m exploring the trails and getting my ankles used to singletrack that’s very uneven and rocky, since that’s what the course will look like. We’ll also go do some course recon this weekend, just to set my mind at ease/know what I’m getting into.
Tapering
Despite running on trails—thankfully, they’re close—I am in taper-land. The hay is in the barn, so to speak, so really, it’s all about being optimally recovered. That still means 40ish mile weeks, but compared to my usual 60+, it’s a drop!
Meditating
Calm mind, calm body. I try to meditate daily anyway, but I’m really trying to prioritize it lately because I’ve noticed I’m more and more prone to race nerves already!
Compression Boot-ing
I am trying to use my Normatec compression boots every day, especially when we were on the road getting here, just to keep things moving, especially with tapering. The boots also remind me to meditate, which is an added bonus.
Working
Obviously. But I add this to the mix because I’m not just working, I’m trying to do a bit more than usual so that the week after my race (which will include 2-3 days of traveling depending on how we’re feeling and how the drive goes) is a bit less stressful. Anything that’s due that week, I’m trying to get done ahead of time so that if I do have time and energy to work, I can work on stuff that’s coming up, but I won’t feel quite as stressed. And because I booked off those days as no-call days (mostly), these 2 weeks are very interview heavy! But this is also a good thing since it keeps me honest in my recovery time.
List-Making
Of course, there are lists on lists on lists happening here. I also got some posterboard to make bigger ‘cue sheets’ for the day, with important notes like which headlamps need which chargers, what snacks I want in different times/temperatures, clothing for different time/temps, things like that. We’ll have that at the van so it’s clear at a glance what we’re dealing with.
Panicking
Well, come on. I’m human and this is going far beyond what I’ve done in the past. Logically, I’m feeling pretty confident, but if this didn’t scare me, what would the point be, really?
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