Taper Madness

My left knee just started aching last night which can mean only thing: It's taper time!!! And I have an acute case of TAPER MADNESS!!!... (which I just found out has it's own website www.tapermadness.org and forum... kind of like a support group for taperers!)

...Aches, pains, doubts, and strains springing abundantly like the weeds in my meagerly tended garden as the hours, minutes, and seconds slowly melt and drip together like a Salvador Dali painting on mushrooms (or wait... maybe that would make it look normal)... but I digress...

...except, what was I talking about again?... Oh yes... drug induced flashbacks... and why would I be talking about drug induced flashbacks? Because this Saturday I'll be running the Illinois half-marathon in Champaign, Il; home of the University of Illinois where I did my Undergrad (5+ years of my life that would be better off forgotten, and so I subsequently have).

But seriously, I'm super excited to be going back to my Alma Mater to burn up the streets of my old stomping grounds (except this time with no rioting)! So excited, in fact, that I drove into Champaign this past Saturday (about 100 mile drive from Peoria where I currently live) to survey the course... figured it be the perfect way to accomplish my last long run before the race... that and I wanted to make sure I was prepared to stay the course come race day, especially after reading a recent blog entry about someone who got misdirected during a recent half marathon and subsequently missed a top ten finish and a PR!

Some notes about the course: It takes us through campus, through the historic district of Urbana (think old brick buildings, and funky houses), then through seedy town (past the "Silver Bullet" strip club, the 'nicer' strip club in town; not that I would know anything about that), then through the burbs (think McMansions and golf courses), then on a one mile loop through a sculpture park (where these kids I knew used to go get high; not that I would know anything about that), and then back towards campus where the course wraps around into the football stadium and finishes on the 50 yard line.

Also, the course is extremely flat... In fact I don't think I encountered a single hill!!!

Let's just say that I think this race is going to be fast... how fast? More on that in my next post... as I continue to fight my Taper Madness by blogging away the hours, minutes, and seconds before race day...