Five Mile Drive in Point Defiance Park is not quite 5 miles, so 4 times around is closer to 19 than 20 miles. However, although it is a loop, due to an interesting confluence of its geographical position, the earth’s rotation and its orbit around the sun, the road is entirely uphill.

 It is in fact the killer run of the training schedule. Last year, doing the 20 miler on flat Meeker Trail the week afterwards was, despite some of the most interesting weather I've ever run in, quite good fun. So going into my taper a week ahead of the rest of the group isn’t that big a deal in terms of being race-ready. 

When I stopped at the car to massage my feet after the 3rd time around, it took several minutes of loin-girding to get going for a 4th. Brutal. But it was a glorious spring day and it was the last long run. You know you can't quit or how could you even line up for the race itself? These are the runs that really push you and make you realize that, no matter how tough it gets, you always have some more in the tank if you dig deep enough. 

After London it's going to be a time for some hard questions. My foot problems not only cause a lot of pain but they also make me a not-terribly-good runner and as I've been a reasonably okay athlete throughout my life it's hard to be the slow-poke at the back. Co-incidentally, on the way to work there was an item on NPR (National Public Radio) about willpower, which finished on the subject of running marathons. It sort of turned the subject on its head because a lot of it dealt with the problems marathoners have adjusting to not being able to run marathons any more and that gave me some food for thought. Apparently most marathoners begin abandoning the sport at an increasing rate during their 50's and 60's (not sure what that says about my own perversity starting at 55) and find it hard to make the adjustment to stopping. My problem is feet, so I'll try and find solutions for that first. Then, if I can't clear up those issues it will probably be time to look at something like triathlon. Cycling and swimming have never been favourite activities, but I could probably be okay at both and a half-ironman shouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility.

 Meanwhile, let the taper begin! For the non-runners amongst you, the taper is when you steadily decrease your mileage for a few weeks before a race. This achieves a number of results; raised glycogen levels and generally improved body function and strength (counter-intuitive though that sounds), a chance to decrease or lose some of those injuries and niggles and not least, to build a fresh appetite for running. By the end of the taper you should be bursting with energy and jonesing to get running. Yeah, right.

 The really hard work is done now, though it's never a good time to get complacent. On my 2nd lap this weekend I turned both my ankles within a couple of minutes of each other while running over rough ground. I recovered okay both times but my heart was in my mouth; snapped ligaments and there goes the marathon. It doesn't bear thinking about too much, but something like that does do wonders for your concentration.

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