Saturday Run

So last Saturday (the 10th) was my last long run before running the Youngstown Ultra Trail Classic (YUTC) 50k on the 17th.  I ran 20 miles and it felt pretty good.  My pace was almost exactly 9:00/mile which is pretty quick for me.  Hamstrings were pretty sore that day and my calves were sore the next day but now I'm all healed up and ready to go again.  After my run, when we were eating breakfast I said to Grace, "Do you know what animals I saw when I was running this morning?"
Her first guess: "Kangaroo."
"Not quite, but that would've been pretty neat."
For the record, I saw three skunks, three deer, several cats and squirrels, a couple rabbits and a raccoon.

It's always tough for me to figure out how much to "taper" the week of a big race because my body seems to do better the more I run.  I know I'm "supposed" to take certain days off or run less this week but I really don't know that it makes any difference for me.  I'll just run whatever I feel like running; that's always the best policy, right?  It would be nice to hit the trail again once more before Saturday but I don't know if I'll be able to make it out there this week -- there's a lot going on.  We'll see.