#taper madness

[red-headed-runner]

8.5 sunrise km’s this morning. Really on the wind down now. I’m feeling a whirlwind of emotions that frankly at times are overwhelming and negative voices have been getting me down more then I care to admit.

I know I need to take a deep breath and reset, however that is easier said then done done sometimes!

[thebostonbeard]

Taper madness is real, and it's terrifying - Long run life

Typically I don't taper. I hate the mental craziness that comes along, the taper madness. But this week, I tried dialing back on mileage for my Sunday half.

I’ve never been good at tapering before a race. That is still true. I just can’t find the happy medium. 

[malloryrunsthis]

And at 2:30pm I changed out of my cute but too-tight jeans and put on too-big sweatpants. Yes, I did in fact have to staple the waistband to stay up. Yes, I’m at the office. No, IDGAF. 

I’m also sipping on some immunity boosting tea, took some cold-eez and Umcka earlier. There’s an orange in my lunch bag. I’m feeling SO much better than I did even a few days ago but I’m worried about congestion. 

It’s a good thing there’s this little election thing going on to distract me from race anxiety. 

FOUR DAYS!

[heatherjeff]

Plans are Made to Change

My entire training life revolved around one day, last Sunday and the 41st MCM. I ran a lot, finished easy efforts with strides, did cut down runs, tempo runs, ended long runs with marathon miles. Some workouts began on the hilly Custis Trail only to end with fast miles on the track. It was all about killing it at the marathon. Guess what? I did not run the marathon. 

The week leading into the race was tense. At work we were doing a program where we picked up runner packets to have in store and that got a little complicated. My coach was running MCM too so the office was brimming with anxious energy. I focused on breathing, eating, and sleeping while doing my best to ignore the latest weather reports. This was my first taper with a coach at the helm and I balked at the miles I was scheduled to run marathon week. The funny part is I followed the plan he laid out since April to the letter; yet in the last week I was all about overthrowing him. Tapering is SO hard. Wiser minds prevailed and I kept following the plan. I was ready to roll. Thursday morning at the track I was starting to loose my cool. Worry was taking over and that is not pretty for anyone. When I got home I told Jamey I was not going to run the marathon and he said, “Sure, do what you want, I am proud of you.” What? No fight? No debate? It was the PERFECT response to my crazy talk. It was like a valve released and the race was cut down to size. 

Friday night while we were eating dinner I got the chills and fell off the cliff to sick in a matter of seconds. It was the oddest thing. I climbed into bed at 8pm and woke up at 10 the next morning. I slept Saturday away, I felt miserable. I called the race on Saturday, I could sit in a chair because it hurt  making the plan to run a marathon way too far fetched to consider. In the moment I could have cared less about the race. I did not want to let Elaine, my training partner down, or my coach, but other than them who cared? The idea to cheer came and went, cheering was way too hard. 

Sunday was a hot day, it ended up being 80 and even through it as not 80 at 7:55am for the start of the marathon it was not the weather runners were banking on. Runners got it done in less than ideal conditions. Every last one of them trained for months and had a Marine give them their hard earned medal. It was not meant to be my day. 

Finally on Wednesday I started to feel ok and my oldest told me what I needed was a run. She told me the facts, runners run and I need to get out and run. She and I went out together, she on her bike and me on my feet, and it was really the best thing ever. She was right, runners run and there was nothing to shake off the sickness and the disappointment then returning to the thing makes me tick. On Thursday I went to the track and by the time I stepped into the office on Thursday I was back. 

Now what? I am not sure what happens now. I trained long and hard and I tapered then did not run for almost a week. My coach is not sold on a marathon for me at this point. I am not sure what I really want to happen. Training hard was so much fun and such a challenge for me. Right now he has me working back to health with conservative miles and goals. I am glad someone else is in charge here because I am so impatient. The marathon is not my true love, the training is, the community is, the sense of being in the game is my love. My plan is in flux and I am relaxing into the  that and waiting to see how things unfold. That is hard but I trust the method but I am working on it. 

Last long run before the taper, those were fun miles! 

One thing I have learned is that I am stronger than I thought I was and when your body says no it means no. Now let’s see what happens next. 

[chasingcheeto]

i. hate. the. taper.

i. have. taper. madness. Unjustified anger. Can't sleep. Won't stop thinking about the marathon. My right IT band is pissy. Stalking the 10 day weather  forecast already.  Saturday is going to be 65 degrees.  Oh please weather gods, make it be 60 on race day.  That would be glorious! Yesterday was Yom Kippur.  A full day of fasting.  During a time frame when I have been eating like an adolescent boy.  Seriously, it's the taper, shouldn't I stop being so hungry? Tapering cheeto + fasting/hungry cheeto= disaster.To occupy my time during lunch I went upstairs at work and hit the treadmill.  i. hate. the. treadmill. It was hot in the gym.  I was hungry.  5 miles was the plan.  Mileage completed?  1.5 miles.  Ugh!  Oh well, no cramming now. As sundown approached, I joined my family at synagogue for the Yom Kippur concluding service.  After the service ended, we broke fast together as a family at Brio.  Yummy Italian restaurant.  Capellini pomodoro- you did me right.  Not going to lie, around 3:30 I started to fantasize of knocking everyone in front of me out of the way, sprinting through the concourse at work towards McDonald's and diving face first into a McFlurry. How are you marathoners dealing with taper madness?

[wxulikeit]

Everest?

I haven't even completed the marathon yet and I'm already considering my options for the next crazy adventure. THIS may be a bucket list item...

[94monkeys]

As if to illustrate!

I'm at a work presentation where they're serving pizza. There are two dudes sitting in front of me.

DUDE #1: No pizza?

DUDE #2: I'm training.

DUDE #1: I see.

DUDE #1: What are you training for?

DUDE #2: Corporate Challenge.

DUDE #1: That's, like, in June.

DUDE #2: Yeah, but the #1 guy competing for [Workplace] last year left the company, so. The field's wide open. No pizza.

94MONKEYS: **eats all the pizza**

FIN.

[94monkeys]

Picked up my race bib last night!

Hilariously, I was placed in a corral according to my best 5K pace, so I will likely see everyone around me pass me before it's over. I'm not saying I won't run a 2:05 half eventually (like Justin Bieber I never say never) but it's not happening this weekend. 

Now is the taper moment in which I wonder just what the heck I was thinking. And start to freak out about every little odd ache and pain. And maybe have another snack.