Posts Tagged ‘tapering’

Despite all my thoughts this week about tapering, I knew that one more double-digit long run loomed. While running 10 or more miles for a long run is something I’ve done nearly every week since July, I still had this weird feeling about this one.

Last year I couldn’t do another double-digit long run after my second 20-miler. Not running was the right thing to do then; this year it was all about fear.

Turns out, I ran a little more than 10 miles with no big issues at all. It was a clear, starry morning at 6 a.m.; it was about 30 degrees colder than a mid-day run earlier this week; and the miles ticked by fairly quickly. I didn’t focus on my time or pace — it was a run just to run. I should have left my Garmin at home.

Now is the time where the taper is important. My mind is ready to do 26.2 miles again; my body needs rest. While my running has been great lately, I can tell that another week of even lower mileage is going to have me ready. Through 15 weeks of “official” training, I have more than 40 miles on my legs than I did through 15 weeks last year. The extra mileage will pay off, but I can feel those extra miles with various soreness.

My plan for the next couple of weeks will be to take several Epsom salt baths, something I’ve done a lot of in the past month, but haven’t mentioned. I feel so relaxed after doing that and I can then stretch and foam roll with comfort. I also hope to get an adjustment from my chiropractor.

From a running standpoint, I plan to have a short run tomorrow (just shy of 30 miles for the week) and then about 20 miles next week. Race week — which I am calling week 0 — will have just a couple of short runs.

Just two more weeks …

Taper time doesn’t mean running comes to an end, but in my case my body has had other plans. First it was the knee issue; today it was waking up with a temperature of 101. While I have had my fair share of sicknesses, I haven’t been sick with a fever in a long time. So today has been a day of laying around, getting in a solid nap this afternoon and very likely falling asleep on the couch very soon.

The good news is the fever has gone away (for now), but that doesn’t mean I still feel that great. I’ve been thinking a lot today about what all this means: with less than 9 days until the Richmond Marathon, I feel like my body is resetting itself.

While I would never want to have the past couple of weeks go like they have, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. When I get to race day next week, what I have or haven’t done in the recently probably won’t impact my performance too much. The 10 months leading up to it are what will make a difference. The 960 miles I’ve ran — probably 970 by then — the PRs I’ve set in other races and my attitude are what will matter come Nov. 13.

It’s not the perfect situation right now, but there’s nothing else I can really do … except rest up!

A recent comment asked if I was going to taper before the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. Well … yes and no. With having a big hiccup in the middle of July, I was unable to get the mileage I wanted about mid-way through my training this summer. But in the past five weeks, I’ve really poured in on with the miles and after this weekend, I’ll have my fifth straight week of 20-plus miles. With today’s 10.2 mile run and a run this weekend, I’ll have my fourth straight week of double-digit long runs. Next week, which will end on Sunday, Aug. 31 with the race, will make it six weeks of 20-plus miles and five weeks of double digit runs. I’ll leave it all out there on the course, which leads me to how I’ll “taper” without really tapering.

It all started today, with having my long run on a Friday. While I’ll admit that I was pretty tired just five days removed from my last long run, I’ve given myself a couple of extra days between my last long run and the race. I’ll get another 4-5 miles this weekend, and then I’ll have two 4-5 mile easy runs next week. I’ll back off the gas peddle a bit, since I’ve been pretty intense these past couple of weeks. I’ll get in a very short and easy run — probably 2-3 miles — the day before the race so I can adjust to conditions at Virginia Beach. So, when it comes to tapering, my mileage won’t be very different, but my mind frame and intensity will be. This approach is very similar to what I did in the winter of 2007 when I ran the Shamrock Half Marathon — and set a PR — and before I started blogging.

In comparison to earlier this year when I ran the Shamrock Half, I feel great heading into next week. I have no worries when it comes to injuries and I am very pleased with my mileage coming off a non-running injury. Things really got screwed up with falling on my steps, but I’m so glad that I’ve been able to move on. And while I’d like to set a PR at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half, my main goal is to just run my race and have fun doing it. A PR really isn’t all that important — it just makes for a good blog entry and a new time on the right side of this page. I’ve done all I can do, and I’ll do what I can next week to finish off the job. I won’t get all worked up if it doesn’t happen. Running has become enjoyable again this summer, and that’s the best thing that I can ask for.

For the first time since one of my first races, I am experiencing being paranoid. If I’ve had a slight pain anywhere, I get worried. Then it’ll go away. I woke up earlier than usual this morning thinking about race day. While I’m sure I’ll have no problem waking up on time, there’s part of me that thinks I’ll somehow sleep in too long. My usual race week diet — heavy on the fiber the first couple of days — has me thinking I have stomach issues, when I know I don’t. I’ve gotten ready for a big race before, just not a marathon.

Anyway, a quick check on the weather. The forecast for Saturday has gotten colder every day this week, which is fine with me. Lows are forecast in the mid-30s and highs now in the low to mid-50s. Accuweather has a forecast high of 53 Saturday. Weather.com says 56. No matter what you look at, it’ll be nice and cool — perfect for running.

It seems all too often I read about people who are in their taper weeks and they just want to run more. It’s something missing in their lives by cutting several miles from their weeks after running so much in the few months before.

After one week of cutting back, I am more than pleased with running less and giving my body a much needed rest. By the end of this week, I have felt stronger and my pace has actually gotten faster with me feeling as if I was putting less effort into it. Perhaps it’s because there’s less pressure to actually get the miles in. It’s time to rest and take it easy if something hurts, not to log miles just for the sake of logging miles. I also ran without my iPod all week, which led me to wondering if my music was dictating my pace too much. I think I’ll continue to run without music in these last two weeks to better prepare myself for race day. I’m a believer that iPods shouldn’t be allowed in races (that’s another post for some other time down the road), so I want to make sure I’m not addicted to the tunes. If you’re hooked and think you can’t run without music, I’d suggest taking off the earphones — the sounds at this time of the year deserve to be heard … as well as listening to yourself breathe.

Today I had my last double-digit run before the marathon and my knee hurt a very little bit toward the end, so I cut it short. No need to go another two miles just because that’s what I wrote down to do this week. Why risk hurting myself now when the marathon is less than two weeks away? That’s the point of this taper.

All week long I’ve gotten 8-9 hours of sleep every night instead of the usual 7-8. Last night was close to 10. It’s been solid sleep, too. Pretty soon I’ll start proclaiming that marathon training can cure insomnia and other sleeping disorders. Ambien? Don’t waste your money. Several miles a day is the natural way to go.

This week will be about the same through the week as this week, with a long run back in the single digits. Eight miles is going to seem like nothing next week, and I’m really looking forward to it.

I think in yesterday’s post I was blaming myself for things beyond my control. I was mad for yesterday’s run not feeling like the majority of my runs have in the past few months. Plus I was tired … and I think that was my biggest issue of all. Yesterday evening, I took a nap for about an hour. Then last night I slept for about 10 hours. Mark this down as a lesson learned without having to hurt myself — had I kept going yesterday, who knows what would have happened.

So today around 5 p.m., my wife and I headed to a nearby park with our dog (that’s him in the photo!). Instead of the short walk before my run, I took a longer walk to get warmed up — probably a little more than a mile. Then, the run. I started slow just to make sure my knees weren’t turning old on me. Two miles in, things were fine. I kept the first four miles or so off road on the relatively flat trails. Half way through I was feeling great. No pains, no issues with the late-day still-too-hot-for-October weather … my only complaint would be that my iPod was enjoying playing Bush songs I’ve already heard this week. I ended up running 10 miles in 10 seconds less than 1:30. Compare that to yesterday’s first 10 that I did in 1:37, plus another 9:30 pace mile. For the weekend, I did 21 miles. Although my 20 miler didn’t come in one attempt, I did accomplish a first in my running career — two double digit runs in consecutive days. Also this weekend, I passed 100 miles for the month, which is about 20 more than where I was at this point last month. While I was feeling down yesterday, I’m feeling much better tonight. It’s funny what a good night’s sleep can do for the body.

So, now what? It’s time for the taper. A lot of people have a lot to say about tapering — when doing a Google search for tapering and running, 2 million items come up. Nobody is right; nobody is wrong, either. For people like me, running in that 30-40 miles per week range, it seems there’s not much of a need to drastically cut back until the week of, but some cutting back needs to happen. Then there’s the ton of people who run 40-60 miles a week … then you have the 100-plus miles a week runner.

There are too many different types of runners out there to develop a perfect plan and not enough research for so-called experts to really know what is right. I have now had five consecutive 30-plus mile weeks since my mid-September move. Based on what I’ve read, what I’ve been told and what I’ve done with the two shorter races I’ve trained for, next week’s plan is 29 miles with a long run of 14. I may alter some things during the week and shorten the long run just a bit, but I still plan to be in the double digits. The following week, my target mileage is 24 miles, with my long run being 8 miles. And the week of the marathon? I’ll wait and see how I feel, but basically I’m planning 10 miles or less.

I’m excited that taper time is here and I can use some reasonable excuses now to rest up. There have been some mornings that I just don’t feel like dragging myself out of bed, but I do it anyway. Now I won’t feel so bad if I sleep just a tad longer and run a mile less. There’s a lot of reflecting I’d love to do, but now is still not the time. It is not time too look at how far I’ve come since the spring. There’s a marathon to focus on — I haven’t accomplished anything until I cross the finish line.