Taper madness

Why is an idle runner's brain – OK, OK, this idle runner's brain – so
eager to hop on the crazy train at the first opportunity?

For weeks and weeks now I would look at the training schedule, see
that I was supposed to go 8 or 10 miles and think, "Oh, today's a
shorter day."

Then last night I was glancing at the course map for Saturday's half
marathon. "So there's the 1-mile marker, the 2, then the 3…..Yikes.
It's a long way until I even get to the half-way mark," I thought.

Guess my goofy psyche didn't want to wait until race day to let the
mind games begin.

I blame it on the tapering.

Running bunches and bunches of miles – or at least as close as this middle-of-the-packer gets with his training schedule – seems to be good for strengthening the heart, lungs and legs. It might not make my mind stronger, but it at least keeps the grey blob inside my head busy so it can’t make trouble.

I’m still debating whether to drive the course on Thursday or Friday before Saturday’s race. I did that last fall before running the Kansas City Half Marathon. Mostly it was helpful, but it did freak me out a little. Those hills were steep in the first few miles.

With a name like Hospital Hill Half Marathon, Saturday’s course, I realize, isn’t going to be as flat as a Kansas prairie filled with pretty sunflowers.

I am leaning toward a 13.1 mile drive so I can visualize my run and plan a little race-day strategy. Maybe something a little more sophisticated than go out too fast, burn lots of energy on the hills, bonk and then hang on until the finish.

So what do you think? Are the possible benefits of a little pre-race planning worth the risk of triggering a raging storm of I-think-I-can’t mind games?