I told him that my last run before next Sunday's half would be on Wednesday evening. He thought that I should run at least a couple of easy miles on Saturday morning. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?
I'd tend to agree with him, but I also don't tend to taper much at all for half marathons. The day after an "off day" is always rough for me, so I'd probably rest on Friday and then do a couple of easy miles on Saturday, just like the guy said. At the end of the day, though, you need to find out what works for you. Everybody is different. But like tri-man said, do make sure that you focus on hydration and getting good rest. This will have a lot bigger impact on your race than your decision about whether or not you should run today.2Young, in response to your question, no, I don't change shoes for the winter. Honestly, I tend to do the majority of my winter running (except for my weekly long run) indoors on the treadmill. When I do venture out for those long runs in the snow, I've got a pair of
YakTrax that I strap onto the bottom of my regular running shoes. They work pretty nice. I know some other people who actually
insert screws into the bottom of their shoes. Again, whatever works for you.
Myself, headed up to Door County (the site of next year's Fall 50 get-together) last night with the wife for some much-needed R&R. Got up early this morning and hit their little YMCA for a 10-miler on the good-ol' treadmill. They had their machines set for a 30-minute time limit, so I would run the 30 minutes, stop and grab a quick drink from my water bottle, and start up again. Fortunately nobody was waiting to use the machines, but all the FIBs (sorry, tri-man) who were their for their morning walk kept looking at me like I was some kind of lunatic. Anyway, just before I finished, this total hottie runner chick comes and starts running on the treadmill next to me. VERY nice looking, but sorry, no pics. A nice ending to a very satisfying workout. Clocked 1:19 for the 10 miles for an average pace of 7:54. Off now to breakfast and a well-deserved day of doing absolutely nothing.
Darrin, good luck tomorrow, and happy running to the rest of you, too!