8 days from Tokyo now...

And went out for a 9k run today. After yesterday's day off and no running since Thursday morning (today is Saturday), plus a massage on Thursday evening, I was curious to see how I'd go. To quote Mr. Ice Cube... Today was a good day (and I didn't have to use my AK..). The zip in my legs was very unusual. I literally had to fight to keep my pace down. The plan was to do 2k easy (5.20 per k), 4.5 at about marathon pace, then another 2.5 easy home. Felt like I was crawling going slow and ran at marathon pace without really increasing my breath. A good sign 8 days out...

Lots of coaches and experts say that during your taper, you begin to get that zip back as all of your hard work settles into healed, healthy legs. During the Canberra taper, I didn't get to experience this as I had a back muscle pull that literally kept me from any running from day 10 to day 4 prior to the run. When I did run, it was more a ginger, careful trot, ensuring my back didn't slip again. So today was great, very enjoyable, and brought me some confidence that the taper is working and perhaps I'm peaking for the big day.

Got out to watch the Big Boy Kanser do his 10k on the track. As his official lap counter, I was encouraged to shout obscenities, degrade him, and act disgusted with his performance, which I took the liberty of doing... And still got thanks at the end! Great job. For real though, the kid looked very strong last night. Zipping around the track in 85 second laps and finished in a strong 35.19. He chopped 50 seconds from last Saturday's 10k! This tells me he is ready to roll for next Sunday, end of story.

Had a good strategy discussion with the Big Boy as well. I think we're both quietly confident that we are capable of our goals and pb times. We agreed that going out comfortably is how we'll start, settle in, get warmed up in the 4 degree (36 Farenheit) starting temperature, then let the cooler temps and strength we've gained take over and drive us on. We've trained hard and are prepared for a great day.

Lastly, a Roger Clemens update: What a mess... now Clemens' wife is accused of using HGH, his former trainer has the actual syringes that he claims to have injected Roger with (see Monica Lewinsky), and Roger's attorney says McNamee is crazy. I'm on record as believing Roger did it, that McNamee has every reason to tell the truth and Clemens has every reason to lie. Guilty til proven innocent? Maybe but I can also use my eyes, logic, and instinct to make a call. He used.