Race week is finally here! I’m excited to see what all this training yields on Saturday when I race the Ascent. This will be my 8^th attempt in either the Pikes Peak Marathon or Ascent. I’ve had less than stellar results in the past. I was never able to race to my level of fitness during the first 6 attempts before finally having a breakthrough in attempt #7. As a result of my last race up here, I’m following the same routine. In the past I’d do at least a two week taper yet my results were not up to par. My last race here in 2012 had me taper for a week and it produced at 2:57 Ascent time. I’m following the same routine during the week.

Monday-:45 min run, easy

Tuesday-:45 min bike, moderate

Wednesday-Day off

Thursday-:30 min run, moderate

Friday-Day Off

None of this is going to improve fitness. I’m well past that point in training. These sessions will be used to keep the legs moving a bit. The biggest thing I will be doing is getting extra sleep… LOTS of extra sleep. I managed to get in a 2 hour nap on Saturday and Sunday. I will get 9-11 hours of sleep every night this week. At this point, that’s the only thing I can do to get “better” by Saturday so that is my main focus. My nutrition will be pretty much the same as normal. I will slightly increase my carbohydrate intake mid-week. I’m not one to stay away from carbs in my day to day diet so I don’t need to go overboard with carb loading leading up to race day.

Outside of going to the Pikes Peak Run Fest on Thursday night, I won’t be on my feet much. Even at that event, it will be very limited. Rest will be my friend this week. If you call or text me after 8:00, I apologize for not responding.  I’ll be having sweet dreams of a trip up our favorite mountain.