Tapering for the Seaway 15K, a Barefoot Running Book Giveaway, and The Barefoot Running Book pdf

Tapering

Today is my official taper day for the Muskegon Chronicle Seaway 15K, a local road race here in West Michigan.  This is not a goal race, hence the one day taper.  

As much as I would like to set a PR at the race, it is unlikely.  I believe my best time was 1:03:50 in 2008.  My goal for tomorrow will be to finish under 1:07.  We'll see how it goes.

Since this is not a goal race, the taper is minimal.  Burning River at the end of July takes precedence over this race, so it was more important to get a good speed/strength workout yesterday.

If this were a goal race, the taper would have been longer... at least three or four days.  I like the adage: "Training determines potential, taper determines performance."  The idea is simple- the work you do in training will determine the ceiling of your performance.  The speed work, long runs, hill repeats, and crosstraining prepare your body for the rigors of the race.  

The taper allows your body some degree of recovery from training.  This will determine how well you actually perform in the race.  Train too hard and taper too short and you will arrive at the starting line in a less-than-ideal physical condition.  Taper too long and you run the risk of sub-optimal conditioning.

For the Seaway, my taper is too short for optimal performance.  That is the price I am willing to pay to be ready for the goal race in about a month.

 The Book Giveaway

Like Mind the Ducks earlier this year, I will be giving away a copy of The Barefoot Running Book to the follower that guesses my Seaway 15K finish time.   The rule is simple- you have to be a follower (join using widget in the right column); post your guess in the comments section of this post, and the person that comes closest without going over (if I run it in 1:45:34 and someone guesses 1:45:31, they would win.)

The Barefoot Running Book Available in .pdf Format

I received many requests to publish The Barefoot Running Book in .pdf format for non-Kindle ebook readers.  It is available from the Barefoot Running University website.