Kerry's Running Blog

Kerry, looking at the weekly mile totals you have been doing, and the paces you have done, it sure looks like you are ready for St. George and a time faster than 3:35. Hang in there the last two weeks and remember these are taper down weeks. Go into St. George well rested and ready to knock it out. You have the base. I ran 5 consecutive St. George Marathons at my age 54 thru 58, but missed the lottery this year. You are running much higher total weekly mileage than I did. You are running faster long runs than I normally run. You are ready. My five St. George times from 2001 to 2005 were: 3:18:03, 3:15:56, 3:18:04, 3:19:03, 3:37:21 (2 months after Pikes Peak). I get a real good feeling about your prepardness to beat 3:35 this year. Remember family and friends will be having good thoughts and prayers for you during your race. Dean Paul Ivory

Thanks, Paul, for your encouragement. That really means a lot. I've trained a lot harder this year, but it's hard to forget the cramping, nausea and utter exhaustion I've felt the last five or six miles in years past. I'm going to give it my best and am anxious to see what I'm capable of. BTW, those are some pretty impressive times for the marathon. It's really a shame that you didn't get in the lottery this year. Best of luck to you!

Although you should cut down in the last two weeks, make sure not to skip days. If you are short on time, run less, but still get out even if it is only a mile or two.

I have also found for myself that a shorter taper works better. I never had good results with a two week taper. I have gotten the best results so far by cutting down the long run the Saturday the week before, training at a slightly lesser volume (80-90%) on Monday, maybe 70% on Tuesday, and then 50% the remaining three days. Unfortunately our bodies tend to do better at accumulating fat than at storing glycogen when less active for a siginficant period of time.