Taper Town 2023

By | March 6, 2023

Spring in my step, McCarren Park – Brooklyn

With yesterday’s Saturday’s 11 mile run, I am officially tapering. Two weeks from this writing, I will be done with the NYC Half Marathon. With the exception of the Manhattan Bridge when I ran to DUMBO, I haven’t run the course. But in honor of the last double digit run, I did run some in Brooklyn. It only felt appropriate.

Am I ready? I think so. This was one of the hardest training blocks, mostly because my base was much less than it was for anything but my first Lebow. I’d say I learned my lesson not to do that again, but dialing back last year was sensible. February’s 80.08 miles was the most since October. Baby steps. It’s (half) marathon, not a sprint.

Weekly run down with Kim and Deborah even though I didn’t get it together for the linkup.

I know it’s all landscaped, but this just always makes me think it’s natural

matching nothing

  • never miss a Monday: we were supposed to have our first “winter storm” of the year beginning Monday night so after getting a late start, I opted to split the workout in half in case the weather turned. Luckily I made it home before the weather turned – literally. I turned on the block and the pellets began.

Water Woman

  • Tuesday: it was a snowfail, but it was a slushy mess.  The first week of March used to be dubbed “Armory Week”, and while that event has moved to September, this week was still museum heavy. Tuesday was the amazing Wangechi Mutu show at the New Museum.

Theaster Gates, Pickled Jesus

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party

  • Wednesday: legs were not at all feeling a run, so I didn’t.  After work, headed to the Brooklyn Museum for Legacies, a powerful show that shared part of the gallery with Judy Chicago’s iconic work. Nice intersection of Black and Women’s History Months. Grateful for two train rides to read Rosie Walsh’s The Love of My Life, which Deborah recommended a few months back and I loved.

better than the Shamrock Shake

  • Thursday: very good: office run group. Great: Crumbl Cookie. I don’t remember this run, but I’m sure it was fine.

American Wing

  • Friday:  sleet and crap continued, so where better to walk and talk with a friend than The Met?

Book stores: humor and clean bathrooms

last snap before battery died

  • Saturday: this is the only part of the Matt Wilpers’ plan I didn’t care for – a cutback week and then 12 the week before the race with no taper? No thanks. So I flipped W9 with W8 and set out to do 12 ish. I wasn’t loving any of the three routes I’d mapped but didn’t run last week so decided to head over the 59th Street Bridge and see which way my feet took me. I’ve run that a handful of times since the marathon, but it’s always marathon vibes even in reverse. I was feeling a pull south rather than back onto Roosevelt Island so I meandered through Long Island City –Book Culture never disappoints with their sandwich boards or their clean bathrooms. I made a “wrong” turn somewhere in Greenpoint and ended up taking a different route than either the marathon 20 mile runs, or the NYC Runs Brooklyn Half. I love seeing new things, and McCarren Park had early cherry blossoms, so that’s a win win. I got back on the right track and got to see my beloved Wegmans, and it was at this point I was starting to worry about the lack of daylight and phone battery. I also didn’t want to double back through DUMBO’s cobblestones at dusk so rather than finishing the run at the Brooklyn Navy Yard ferry, I decided to run through Brooklyn Bridge Park and up to Borough Hall. This shot, the pilings of ghosts of Pier 2 past, is always one of my favorites and fittingly, it was the last pic before my phone powered down. Luckily I knew the way to the train, and that brought me in at 11 which was just fine. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend a 30m train ride as long run recovery, but my legs survived – thanks primarily to an epsom soak.
  • Sunday: my knees were not loving my stairs after Saturday, so kept it low key with mani/pedi and short errands walk.

 

5 thoughts on “Taper Town 2023

  1. Debbie

    Congrats on the 11-miler – sounds like a good switch up so you’ll have some taper time. That Crumbl cookie looks amazing!

    Reply
  2. Wendy

    Nice work on that long run! A Crumbl cookie after a run sounds pretty good to me! You’re going to do well at the race!

    Reply
  3. Darlene Cardillo

    I want a Crumbl cookie!!

    Love all your museum visits…. FOMO

    You are ready!! Can’t wait to cheer you on!

    LMK when the bloggers are meeting up on Saturday.

    I have a lot of work that maybe scheduled for March and April in Jamaica…. hopefully my foot will be healed enough to do my CP runs.

    Reply
  4. Deborah Brooks

    I am pretty sure I commentated on this post last week but I don’t see it! Anyhow, glad you got in that last long run before tapering. You are ready to rock!

    Reply

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