It's all downhill from here...and other lies we tell ourselves

If I ever have kids, I'm going to make them listen to my story about the time I ran 20 miles. In the snow. On purpose. I didn't do it barefoot but maybe I will tell them I did just for good measure.

Actually, though, Saturday's run went pretty well for me. The first 10 miles were actually, dare I say it, fun. I packed my small camera in my pouch for a "test run" (hehe) to see if I would be comfortable carrying a camera during the marathon. It was fine. While I had the camera, I decided to document our snowy trek. We had a "before" picture where we were all smiles. We took some photos at water stops at mile 5 and 10. I even took a picture of the 20-mile marker. We had to brush aside the snow first but we found it thanks to Runner Wendy's memorization of every inch of the trail.

With a strong wind coming out of the north, we altered our planned route a bit so that we didn't have to spend as much time heading north. Instead we headed to the college where Runner Wendy and I work. It was open that Saturday for special registration hours and we were lured by the promise of indoor plumbing, functional water fountains and heat. Now lots of folks know of my recent fondness for doughnuts after a long run, but I can honestly say I've never eaten a doughnut during a long run. After this rest stop, Runner Wendy can no longer say that.

The last 6 miles of the run brought some fatigue but by and large I felt pretty good. We kept encountering other crazy people running on the trail. It's funny - the running community is small, tight-knit group. Almost everyone asked us if we were training for Disney. And even more amazing, they knew how many miles we were running that day. Seems like the Hal Higdon training plan is quite popular around these parts.

All in the all, the day was good and now I can bask in my taperness. You see, the taper is this magical time of year when after the longest training run has been completed, good little runners everywhere can finally cut back on their miles and regain use of their toes. So here's to the taper - so good to see you again.