Donnie Osmond jr. wrote:
That's why he came in 2nd--- it's stupid not to taper---I mean, isn't tapering before the big run a fundamental of racing? Anyway, I don't believe any of the mileage he puts on his blog anyway? 184 miles? Utter bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So what do you think his actual mileage is? He ran 100 miles in just a hair over 9 min./mile at altitude with thousands of feet of ascent and descent. Do you think he runs the Boulder Creek path for an hour every morning and calls it a day?
Tapering is overrated, especially in his case. Very little speed work (minimal intensity) means he can continue to do big mileage because that's what his body is used to. During a "taper", you taper intensity, not volume. All he does is volume so there's no need to taper dramatically. It would probably be a detriment.
He came in 2nd, in the second fastest time ever, because he ran 100 miles at the same pace you run your mile repeats.