Chomping at the Bit

The Taper - the part of the training cycle that every endurance athlete loves to hate.

The taper does different things to different athletes. This is how my taper is going:

• Running-wise everything is going fine. Tuesday and Thursday I went back to the track for 5 x 1 mile at 5k pace. Wednesday was a recovery run. Tomorrow, coach gave me the choice of going out for an easy 45 bike ride or take an extra rest. Since I don't have a bike, and I'm not the biggest fan of the stationary bike. I will take the extra rest day and attempt to sleep in a bit. More on this in a bit.
• I am always hungry. I eat everything in sight. It's almost comical.
• Sleep isn't coming easy to me. Now is the time I should be getting extra sleep. The exact opposite is happening. Usually the pre-race jitters make their presence known the night before the race. This time around, they've announced themselves 9 days before race day. 
• With most of my friends mostly recovered from their spring "A" races, I ask myself every day "is it my turn yet?" 
•  I am nervous. I'm not sure why. I've put in the work, training has gone better than I ever expected. Coach Jeff put together an intense but manageable training plan that allowed me to become a smarter, stronger, and faster runner. Now it's up to me to put it all together.

It's incredibly humbling to see so many people take an honest interest in my training. The support and encouragement I've received from everyone on Twitter, Facebook, and beyond is deeply appreciated. Thank you for coming along for the ride. May 16 is almost here, I am ready to go!