And.... Cue obsessive weather checking, new phantom injuries...and a mystery solved!

So.... last week before I run New Jersey Marathon (Sunday, May 5). Taper week.

Most people describe the taper crazies as their legs popping out of their skin, wanting to run. This phenomenon sounds kind of nice. I have not experienced it. Instead, taper feels like my legs are still heavy, I gained 10 pounds from all the lovely carbs (not really, but they do make me feel a bit bloaty). It includes obsessively checking the weather, and always, always developing a new injury that WILL NEVER HEAL BY RACE DAY AND WILL RUIN EVERYTHING AND ALL THAT TRAINING WAS FOR NOTHING. Except it will probably be fine. And I am just a drama queen.

At least the last week of training that began poorly, ended with a confidence-boosting tempo run.

April 21-27, 2013
Sunday: 16 miles at 8:37 avg pace, felt like balls.
Monday: 40 mins easy elliptical
Tuesday: Attempted threshold workout (3x2miles at HM pace - roughly 6:55). Actual workout was 1x2 miles (7:12), 1x2 miles (7:25)... and I quit. Felt so slow and hard.
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 10-mile tempo run! Success! Started around 7:25s, finished last mile at 7:08. Avg pace was 7:20. 12 miles total.
Friday: very easy 4 miles
Saturday: 50 mins elliptical + core

Saturday I flew back to San Diego AGAIN for work and yay, met with Kristen for a delicious dinner of fish and sauvignon blanc. New Zealand SB, always.

I then flew up to Oakland, CA (for work again)... to the land of Roserunner!

I met her for dinner! At first I didn't realize this was a blog meetup... cos we had been emailing a little from time to time, and it didn't occur to me that it was a "thing". Then I realized how potentially awkward this stuff is, when my boss asked me how I "met" this friend.  I embarrassingly stammered that errrrmmmmmm, we hadn't actually "met" and we were friends via our blogs. So now he thinks I'm trawling for friend-dates on the interwebs. Awesome.

Anyway! Dinner was great, though we committed a massive blog fail for not getting any photos. Of each other, the food, or weird selfies in running outfits. But rest assured it was a great eve... though I felt like I talked her ears off about running, running blogs and basically a recounting of my entire life story. But she was SO nice, interesting, smart (like you'd expect) and encouraging!! My marathon-induced anxiety rapidly dissipated after our dinner...for 2-3 hours, at least.

One thing Margot mentioned that was totally true...Roserunner is not a 6"2' Amazonian warrior lady! Normal size! Apparently RR thought that I would be bigger too. But after pondering for a while, we have possibly solved the mystery. All race photos have our runners legs fully-extended in stride, poking out of tiny runner shorts. Arms generally in a flailing (me) or professional-looking arm-swing (Roserunner) but extended, nonetheless. SO bodies look bigger in those photos, than say, aforementioned selfies would. Mystery solved? Maybe... I'm going with it.

~ Penny