Monday, September 24, 2012
Mental taper
The Taper before a marathon.... supposedly it is an uncomfortable time. You scale back your training, rest your body a bit more, all to be primed and ready to go at race time. I have read that it drives people crazy - the fewer miles and storing up energy. I for one am enjoying it a bit too much. So then comes the mental questions... should I be running more than I am? Am I losing some of my fitness base? If I don't do a long run for 3 weeks, will that mess me up? And all of the sudden I get it. It's more a mental thing than a physical thing. My body feels much better than normal. Much less tired. I've dropped 2 pounds the past week. I have been training hard for 16 weeks. That's a long time for me to stay focused on a goal. The fear of the 26.2 distance is what kept me focused more than anything else. I am really excited to see how my body performs. Will those last 6.2 be the death of me? Will it take me 2 hours to finish those last miles? My goal is to finish under 5 hours.... can I do it? I can't wait for all the feelings I will experience. The excitement, the crowd's enthusiasm, the energy filled legs!, having to hold myself back when I want to surge, pushing through the fatigue and pain when I want to slow down, the mental challenge, then, should I get there by God's grace, the exhilerating finish! I am excited. And now I get it. The taper is a mental game. A game of trusting your training and your taper. Nothing I do now will help me but I can hurt my chances of having a great race by doing something stupid. Though the weather is cooler, and my pace feels faster, I am going to try to do all my runs easy. I really want to push myself, but I know, I KNOW, I just need to trust my training, and enjoy the taper. 2 weeks, and it will all be over.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Taper Time
I really have done a poor job of keeping up with my posts here. I have been training well. I made all of my long runs and now am entering my first of three taper weeks. I honestly cannot believe how far I have come. I never thought I could train my body to run. I never thought I could run alone so far, getting up so early, sacrificing my one morning to sleep in during the week, Saturday, for a super long run. But I made it.
I wanted to post a couple of things here about my 20 mile runs. First thing, I did them completely alone. Two weeks ago was my first one. I got up and had everything ready to take. I drove up to a park near a lot of running routes people use around here. The night before I had mapped out a course on Map my Run, but kinda lost my bearings 3/4 of the way through. Let me just say it was very humid that morning. I used my car as a base and kept most of my gatorade and gu there. I took along my hand held bottle and a back of cliff shot blocks. I struggled from the get go. My training week prior had been pretty brutal and I think I ran 39-40 miles that week. My legs were tired and I was dragging. By mile 17 I was struggling. I almost lost it emotionally. But I struggled through the final 3 and finished. I spent the rest of the day on the couch.
Yesterday however, I did a little bit of a different route. The temp was so cool - mid 50s when I started. I loved it! I had to intentionally slow myself down the first 8 or 9 miles. I could have gone so much faster. I didn't get all my weekly runs in due to my schedule so I only ended up doing 31 miles this past week. So my legs were fresher as well.
My split comparisons are here:
This gives me so much confidence heading into the taper weeks. I am hoping to shed a few pounds by watching my diet the next couple of weeks. That way I'll be lighter for race day. I am so excited about the marathon and hope those last six miles aren't too brutal. If yesterday was any indication, I think it's gonna be a blast! 3 weeks from today!!
I wanted to post a couple of things here about my 20 mile runs. First thing, I did them completely alone. Two weeks ago was my first one. I got up and had everything ready to take. I drove up to a park near a lot of running routes people use around here. The night before I had mapped out a course on Map my Run, but kinda lost my bearings 3/4 of the way through. Let me just say it was very humid that morning. I used my car as a base and kept most of my gatorade and gu there. I took along my hand held bottle and a back of cliff shot blocks. I struggled from the get go. My training week prior had been pretty brutal and I think I ran 39-40 miles that week. My legs were tired and I was dragging. By mile 17 I was struggling. I almost lost it emotionally. But I struggled through the final 3 and finished. I spent the rest of the day on the couch.
Yesterday however, I did a little bit of a different route. The temp was so cool - mid 50s when I started. I loved it! I had to intentionally slow myself down the first 8 or 9 miles. I could have gone so much faster. I didn't get all my weekly runs in due to my schedule so I only ended up doing 31 miles this past week. So my legs were fresher as well.
My split comparisons are here:
|
Miles
|
Sept 1
|
Sept 15
|
|
1
|
10:05
|
10:10
|
|
2
|
10:12
|
9:52
|
|
3
|
10:04
|
9:41
|
|
4
|
10:07
|
9:24
|
|
5
|
9:55
|
9:31
|
|
6
|
9:54
|
9:17
|
|
7
|
9:49
|
9:24
|
|
8
|
9:38
|
9:30
|
|
9
|
9:49
|
9:37
|
|
10
|
10:06
|
9:27
|
|
11
|
10:00
|
9:13
|
|
12
|
9:49
|
9:26
|
|
13
|
10:05
|
9:31
|
|
14
|
10:11
|
9:18
|
|
15
|
10:07
|
9:39
|
|
16
|
10:12
|
9:45
|
|
17
|
10:13
|
9:33
|
|
18
|
10:24
|
9:49
|
|
19
|
10:17
|
9:37
|
|
20
|
10:26
|
9:30
|
This gives me so much confidence heading into the taper weeks. I am hoping to shed a few pounds by watching my diet the next couple of weeks. That way I'll be lighter for race day. I am so excited about the marathon and hope those last six miles aren't too brutal. If yesterday was any indication, I think it's gonna be a blast! 3 weeks from today!!
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