Boston training week 7: the one with the taper. Not tapering for Boston, obvs.

I'm a little late getting this recap up from last week.
Unlike last winter at this time, when we were buried under endless amounts of snow, this February has been pretty mild (and therefore, I am pretty busy!)

While the weather is better, early in the week the roads were still pretty awful. We ended up having a pretty mild week, so much improvement happened!

Mess

I was hesitant to begin a full fledged taper until I could see the 10 day forecast leading up to this coming Sunday. This plan meant that Eric and I did a big, bad ass workout last Wednesday which consisted of 3x2 mile reps @ 7:24. A great workout.  Things went really well, and (if nothing else) I have really achieved the goal I set of getting my legs moving faster in training.
In other good news, I finally got to try out my new shoes, and they are good!

The ONLY good thing about Eric turning into a very fast runner (which used to be the title that *I* held in our home, and I'm a little sad about losing the crown) is that he is a fantastic metronome of a pace booty. I won't lie, at this point I shamelessly use him for his speed skills, and drag him out on runs when I need a rabbit. The kid is fucking fast, and as consistent as the treadmill. If we run one repeat at 7:24, we are going to run all of them at that speed. It is magic. (and he is mine!!!! how did I get so lucky??)
OH! And this was a Valentine's Day workout, so very, very romantic.

The romance is really intense

As it turns out, the forecast for the weekend does not indicate imminent race cancellation. Taking that into account, I had a pretty pedestrian week, and we wrapped it up with a short/long run to the pub.

Drizzly running conditions to the best pub

Where we got warm and found our friends! 

I keep thinking of this as an abridged training cycle, since I made the "extra" marathon commitment on the late side. In fact, I have been running consistently since early November, so I should be well enough trained to pull it off.

My confidence took a hit during my shit show marathons last Spring, and I have been working hard to leave the negative feelings behind. I think I had enough training runs in tricky conditions to develop a new, positive mindset.
I also made a deal with myself, that if at ANY point, this marathon sucks, I am dropping out and I do not care. Giving myself permission to be "ok" with a DNF gives me some room to find a more comfortable head space.
Whatever works, right?
I very much hope to be able to run a BQ. I would like to think that my fast days are not yet behind me! Whatever happens this weekend, I have truly enjoyed this training cycle, and actually think I found the right balance between work/working out/having fun/keeping it real.

And so, on to the race.
(and it looks like rain and wind, which is my honest to god favorite!!!)

Miles Run: 33.8

Elevation this week: 1,369 (all outdoors)

Lowest low temp: 11

Highest temp: 46 = heat wave

Total snowfall: A very sneaky 4", plus the world turned to death ice

Coldest day that I ran outdoors: It was like 33 on Wednesday which was like SO COLD!!! (so spoiled)

Random fact: I really can not stand the feeling of stuff caught between my teeth. I always have floss.