(Avoiding the) Taper Tummy

It's taper time. It's two weeks until the Kurrawa2Duranbah.

Taper means less volume, and usually some higher intensity work. Taper is the time you tell yourself that the physical side is done and all that's left to do is to keep yourself healthy and work on the mental side of your game.

For me, taper also means taming the appetite to avoid what I've come to call "taper tummy".

My running handbag

Last weekend on my 42k training run, when my friend Carrie met me to run a stint with me, one of the first things she said to me related to the Camelbak I've started using on long runs.

"I was wondering how you carried things you need when you run this far. I wouldn't drive 42ks without my handbag."

So I guess it's time for a tour of my running handbag and its contents.

Challenge Accepted!

When I first realised I had to do a 42k training run to prepare for my first 50k race I'm not going to lie... it was a bit confronting.

But all the programs I'd looked at all had a longest run of this distance so there was really no getting out of it. I channeled Barney Stinson... "Challenge.. Accepted!"

Today was the day of the 42k training run, but I wasn't the only one that accepted a challenge.

Ironman V Ultra runner

If you haven't seen this and you're a triathlete or endurance athlete - you should. As long as you're not one of those triathletes or endurance athletes that take themselves too seriously.



On last weekend's long run, I found myself caught between the worlds of the triathlete and the ultramarathoner and for the first time, I started wondering where I fit.