mini-taper week

At this point in my marathon training plan, I'm on something called "taper week" (which boils down to a reduction in miles and workouts before the Get Lucky! 7K this coming Saturday), and it's given me lots more time to ponder my existence and nitpick obsess over notice the changes that have taken place in my body since I started getting serious about training and added in kettlebells and TRX classes.

Good changes: My butt is definitely not as wide as it was before. I've lost six pounds!  More muscle tone all over the place; there are actually some muscles that are DEFINED now, where before there was only mush.  And most astonishingly, I'm starting to get definition in my abs - MY ABS, PEOPLE!! - which is nothing short of a miracle.

Not so good changes: As of this writing, I have two toenails that are currently a dark shade of crimson and will eventually be turning black and then falling off.  I can live with that.  So classifying soon-to-be denuded toes in the "not so good" category is questionable.  Besides, kettlebells and TRX are in the clear on this one - the blame resides with my foot confirmation.

This isn't me.  But it could be if I'm not careful.

WTF changes: While my arms are definitely displaying the fruits of my labors (dare I say they are ripped?  Nah, not really, but hot damn they are looking so much better!!) my right arm is way more muscular  than my left arm.  I noticed it in circuit class last night.  The left arm is also noticeably weaker.  Seriously....Double U.Tee.Eff.  How did that happen???  Last time I checked, both arms were clocking identical amounts of time at the studio, lifting the same weights and participating in all other physical endeavors on an equal basis.  Also, kettlebell lifting rotations are always supposed to start with the left arm then go to the right (but sometimes my dyslexic self screws that up), so you'd think the left arm would be going to town since the brain thinks it's so much fresher than the right arm.  Guess I'll have to start doing one-arm pushups or something to get the left arm up to snuff.

So, back to taper week.....I'm trying to not go crazy with my reduced mileage.  And trying to figure out at what point exactly I went from noticing "Gee, guess I haven't run for a couple of days/weeks," to CARING and even being somewhat annoyed that my mileage has been reduced AND feeling antsy when I can't get my run on.  Probably about the same time I started taking ice baths.  I hear they're like a gateway drug for runners.