Meanwhile back in taper town

It's a funny thing tapering twice for marathons within 4 weeks of one another.  Well I guess it's not strange or odd for multiple marathon folks but I don't normally fall into that category so it's a little trippy for me.  Probably the best thing I can say and feel about it is that I don't feel in dire need of a taper.  Sure, I need and want the extra time to really solidify my race plan and visualize it's execution but I don't feel beat up and that was one of my larger concerns about squeezing in another May race.

The last physical & mental boost experienced came about yesterday in the form of the Brooklyn HM.  I had already registered for this race before deciding upon VCM so after consulting coach, we decided that it would still be a go but that I'd have a specific plan in place for the 13.1 miles.   Start easy (4-5 mi), slide down into MP (4-5 mi) and finish easy.  Do not race it in.  Remain in control and fight off dropping the pace outside of the specified MP window.  Got it.  Good.

I ran this race last year too and really liked it.  The course has you running two loops of Prospect Park and then heading out onto Ocean Parkway running a pretty straight line out to Coney Island, finishing on the boardwalk.  A HUGE improvement over how the course used to run (up until last year) where you started at Coney Island and finished with two loops of P.Park.   Improvement b/c if you've ever run Prospect you know it's not flat and there's one big dude of a hill in particular that can slow you down quite a bit + you gotta suck it up for two loops. But I digress... race went pretty much as expected:

M1: 8:24
M2: 8:27
M3: 8:05 - PMPM (premature marathon pace mile)
M4: 8:01 - another PMPM
M5: 8:25
M6: 8:25
M7: 7:46 - MP
M8: 7:57 - MP
M9: 8:04 - MP
M10: 8:08 - MP
M11: 9:06
M12: 8:38
M13: 9:39 (including a porta potty stop)
M _.1: :54 

Finished with an official time of 1:50:07

I was pleased with the effort, how it felt very controlled and how my mental game played out (stick with the plan!).  I feel extraordinarily blessed receiving some really great advice and encouragement from you all here on the blog, in person and via email messages.  It really means a lot to me and I really tried to put much of it into practice along the course on Saturday.   I'm planting the thoughts further into my race plan for this coming weekend, I certainly feel ready!