Taperland

Miles and miles and miles of single track under my sneakers.  Hills and hills and hills tattooed into my quads and calves.  Endless rhythms of breathe and footsteps and arm swings.  All of the uphill slogs and downhill smiles have blurred into one beautiful, miserable, soggy, sunshiney, wonderful run.



It was a short but heavy build up from January to my last weekend running 80km in twenty four hours.  It all began while I was in Hawaii...starting with a flurry of texts to Kim then a 'napkin training plan' and finally a rum induced race sign up from my lawn chair on the beach.  Miwok 100k in sweet San Fran at the start of May.  Running and sunshine and wine!  It was to be a final adventure together before Kim moved to the flatlands.  And while the race may have been the original goal, it is the journey that has become the real reward.  The chance to spend hours and days and months in the wild, both together and on our solo runs, has been a true gift.  

And now here I am at the peak of my training.  A few short months and a thousand kilometres later I have arrived, unscathed, in Taperland.  Making it to the start line really is the hardest part of the ultra journey.  Walking the tightrope between training and recovery is a balancing act of patience, humility and intuition.  You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, when to walk away and when to run😉.  To say I was stoked to reach the peak of my training would be a wee understatement!  After my final 7 hour run in the rain and mud and mountains last Friday I was pumped, grateful and relieved to have made it to the end of the peaking in one, happy piece.  Woot!  Helloooooooo Taperland!  

PS: It may be four weeks until race day but in my mind I have already won.☺️💕✌️

Happy Trails,

SS