Tapering: Time to rest and patiently wait for HK 50

Yesterday was my last long run for HK 50. Since I was in Santa barbara, I decided to do a hard 20 miler on treadmill, which is lot easier than running on asphalt, also surface is easier on the knees.

My training mainly consisted on following three phases:

Base build up(may - aug):
No structured training, but consisted of running 50k and 50 M every month, more or less about 35-40 miles per week.

Sharpening/Buildup(6 weeks):
I would consider this phase as the crux of my training for HK 50, with no racing but a consistent 50 miles per week of runs, consisting of 20-31 mile long runs. This period has been most fruitful. when I started out I could barely do a 20 miler at 10:30 pace, but end of this period I was able to do a 9 min mile (on treadmill).
I think I do see a improvement by atleast 1 min, mainly because
a) long tempo runs of of 8-9 miles
b) reduced weight
c) hard long runs.
d) avoiding racing allowed me to focus on specific training

Tapering:
It's not my favorite part of training but I see benefits of a good taper period, so starting today my taper for HK 50 starts. For next few days
- reduce mileage by 25% every week
- do some short intensity workouts (6-8)
- weight training
- watch diet
- cross training

Just hoping for this period to go through without injuries and weight gain.

Patiently waiting for HK 50, 19 more days to do!