Photo Credit: runDisney
With the big race only 18 days away (15 days until Marathon weekend kicks off with Day 1 of the Expo), its officially time to start tapering! Its still hasn’t sunk in yet that I ran 13.1 miles on Sunday, and that I’m less than three weeks away from crossing the finish line of my first half marathon!
From both what I’ve read, especially on Runner’s World, as well as through my interactions with other bloggers and runners, tapering can be a major challenge, particularly a mental challenge. Although I know my body is more than ready for the reduced mileage (I’ve been a bit sore since I finished my practice half marathon), its going to be hard to convince myself that next weekend’s long run should only be six miles, and that my long run the weekend before the race should only be three miles. I won’t say that I’ve become used to the longer runs, but six and three miles definitely doesn’t feel as long as they once did.
Fortunately, I’ve got plenty of activities on the calendar between now and when we leave for Disney World to keep me busy and distracted from the lack of miles that I’ll be running. Hopefully I won’t find the taper to be as much of a mental challenge as I’ve heard from some people that it can be!
QOTD: How do you mentally approach tapering? Do you purposefully find activities to keep yourself busy?
Since I train off a “homemade” training plan, I don’t taper quite so much (10 miles this weekend, followed by 7 the weekend before race weekend), so the mental aspect of it isn’t quite as big a deal as it is for others, especially those tapering from their full marathon training. I just know when that GPS clicks over to 10 miles, I feel like a HUGE weight has been lifted. I know I haven’t overtrained, and as long as the IT’s aren’t killing me, I know that nailing that 13.1 will only be the start of a great celebration! 🙂
Kimberley
We both have such big races to look forward to! Can’t wait to celebrate!
Mentally the taper is the toughest part! Smart to stay busy. Good luck at WDW. I’ll be there too; Dopey Challenge 🙂
Fortunately with the holidays, it wasn’t hard to fill my calendar up with activities! See you at Disney, and good luck with the rest of your Dopey training!
Good luck on your upcoming half! I’ve never tapered before but it does sound pretty intense. I think if you start getting crabby from the lack of miles (which is what I’ve read can happen) you can probably do other workouts instead! Yoga should help with that!
I will definitely be turning to other workouts if necessary. From what I’ve read, the most important thing to do is just keep busy!
People that don’t run think training is hard. I’m betting many runners would say tapering is harder! Stay as active as possible and trust your training. Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Thanks Jill! Thankfully, I’ve got plenty on the calendar in the next couple weeks to keep me busy!
Personally, I didn’t find my marathon taper that difficult. I was still running, just not as long. I had been training for a long time so I was ready for the cut back in mileage 🙂
I think my body has been ready too. I’ve only run once this week though, partly because I was so sore at the beginning of the week from my last long run. Time to find the motivation to get another run in!
Pingback: 2013 Year in Review | From Dancing to Running