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Marathon Training – Last Month Taper
For anyone training for their very first marathon, I am right there with ya. Everything is an experiment…what pace should I start out at? How often should I fuel? How often should I drink water? What should I eat the night before? How will I recover? It’s all a big learning experience and I have to be confident that my body is in good enough shape for whatever I throw its way!
Two weeks ago, my long run was 21 miles which I covered in about 2 hours 40 minutes. At the end of the 21 miles, my legs were pretty trashed and the next day I was sore to walk. Now that the longest long run is over, HERE COMES THE TAPER :)
Saturday’s long run was a mere 12 miles….insignificant after weeks of building from 12 to 14 to 17 to 21 miles. I feel like I should be running MORE MORE MORE. As much as I can! Build up the mileage to get ready for the race! But every training program I’ve read says NO. That is a huge mistake. Your body has put in the work, you need to trust that you will not lose your strength & speed, and now is the time to pull back and let your body “recover.”
Apparently feeling anxious during the tapering period (roughly three weeks leading up to race day) is pretty common for marathoners. I felt reassured after reading this article from Runner’s World: It’s Taper Time. I love the part that said the easy runs during the 6 days before the marathon are more for your “head than your body.” Some of my other favorite take-aways:
- The last week is about feeling CONFIDENT
- During the end of the taper, you can’t “underdo” – you can only overdo.
- Nutrition and getting in carbs & fluids is extremely important; don’t look at the scale (don’t worry, I won’t!!)
This period worries me. Reducing mileage translates to one thing for me: weight gain. When I was running 80 miles a week I didn’t need to worry about the ice cream, peanut butter and lattes that I would treat myself to. Once I was injured at school, I had zero physical activity for a few weeks and gained a few pounds. My problem? I have an appetite and love for food that requires 60 minutes minimum of cardio a day to off-set ;)
So I tell myself: Trust the taper, follow the plan, have a successful marathon and worry about the number on the scale after the race is over.
With all kinds of extra time as my workout schedule decreases I can focus on getting back to into school mode, making new healthy recipes and finding time for other hobbies like photography or blogging!
Only 11 days separate me from my first marathon. The latest song in the marathon training playlist rotation is… dun dun dunnnnn………
Take It Out On Me by Florida-Georgia Line.
I love country music. When I run I listen to pop, alternative and sometimes hip-hop because it’s got a better beat and more energy to go with exercise. But sometimes country songs are just as motivating and I love this song by the country boy duo. Even though I can’t really relate to the lyrics, it’s grit really ignites my motivation and I usually find I can pump up the treadmill a couple levels whenever this song pops up on my iPod ;)
Sunday: Summer Training Summary
The sun is up past 8pm, peaches are plentiful at the grocery store, and baseball is our current dinner-time entertainment…..it must be summer.
: )
Summer is a huge part of cross country training – it’s where all the mileage builds up our aerobic base for the competition season in the fall. So I thought I would start a Sunday “Summary” series of the week’s schedule. (I’ll post them all to the Fitness Page.) Here we go! This covers the week of June 17th. The top row of each day is at 5am before work; the bottom row is after work, usually around 6pm. Let me tell you, working out every 12 hours gets confusing and makes the days fly by faster than vacation!
As the miles are multiplying, I thrive on a schedule and organization. It’s helpful to have a clear plan for fitting in the day’s training (remember last summer”s Peak Week Schedule?)
Knowing I’d be spending about 8 hours running this week, I just downloaded a dozen new songs to keep me entertained. You know what that means…..new playlist in your future ;) The most important part about double-day workouts is hydration and sleep, to me. I find myself guzzling water at work, finishing about 48 oz at my desk each day. Another huge part of sustaining energy through the week is getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep at night. Otherwise, it’s hard to summon the motivation to pound some pavement after a sleepy shift and trafficky car ride. H2O + ZZzzz = happy runner
Despite a hectic schedule, I gotta say I honestly LOVE summer training. The more miles the better, right?! This is my 7th summer of cross country training, and it’s shaping up to be my best yet. Summer before freshman year of college, I had a serious hip injury that prevented me from running July through September. Similarly, last year I underwent the first of a series of facial surgeries that took months to heal and consequently resulted in my forfeiting yet another cross country season. This year – nothing is going to stop me from finishing the season. Heck, just starting the season would be an improvement. I’m already pumped for some competition and ready to see what this summer’s efforts will turn into.
Sunday afternoon means I can erase the schedule of workouts after completing the whole list and start to plan out the coming week. Now I’ll enjoy the rest of this Father’s Day watching some good ole’ baseball with my dad! (He’s for the Yankees, I’m for the Angels….so far it’s not looking too good for me.)
Happy Father’s Day!
70 miles a week doesn’t leave much time to blog…
I fully planned on writing up a post last night after I got home, but I got completely sucked into the book I am reading and about 6 chapters later I realized I’d better just get to bed for my early morning track workout today. (But I highly suggest reading The Long Run, an autobiographical story about a New York fire-fighter and triathlete who was in a tragic bus accident and attempts to rebuild himself!)
So here I am, refreshed after some speed work, ready to try this again. My post-workout breakfast this morning ended up being spontaneous and delicious: I ran some hard 400’s this morning, and am coming back for a double run this afternoon so I needed some quick energy-replenishment. I mixed a mashed banana and beaten egg in a microwavable bowl, adding in oats and cinnamon until it was thick. Then I microwaved it on high for 2 minutes, and it came out with an oaty-cake texture, with lots of banana flavor. With a cup of freshly brewed Starbucks-blend coffee, it was such a good hearty meal- perfect combination of protein, carbs, fruit (and caffeine). ;) But not pretty enough for a picture…
As much as I absolutely love the snow, it really is inconvenient to run in. The slick icy sidewalks and my tendency to be a little clumsy have made running outdoors impractical this week. I’ve alternated between the treadmill, the indoor track and the concourse of our dome stadium for every run this week. So if anyone has any good suggestions for songs to add to my ipod, please share!
One afternoon, I chose to cross train on the elliptical instead of running my 4-mile afternoon shake-out run. I had to laugh when I walked into the fitness room and saw the other two girls working out while watching “Paula Dean’s Best Dishes.” The girls were literally moving in slow motion on the ellipticals while they watched Miss Paula whip up some kind of cookie-cake combination that was of course topped with ice cream, and probably melted butter. Not my idea of workout motivation… Since they were almost done I had to change the channel and was happy to find an oooold episode of Boy Meets World! I used to love that show; now it looks so cheesy. The corny story line, the funny clothes. Still, I’d happily watch 90’s sitcom reruns over half of the crap that is on TV now. My cross training went by in no time thanks to Cory and Topanga!
Bozeman, Montana Track Meet 2012
This week’s training has been insane and primarily by myself since my team is currently in Montana for the Indoor Track & Field Conference Championships. I would have loved to have qualified for the meet and be on the trip to beautiful Bozeman with them, but I knew that wasn’t realistic after only training for 5 weeks. I am, however, within 10 seconds of my 3k PR and am taking full advantage of my time this week to push myself and ensure that I’ll be heading to the Outdoor Track & Field Conference Championships in just 11 weeks where I can tackle the 10k again!
Off to run again. Enjoy your weekend
:)
