Taper?

12 July 2009 ~ 3 Comments

Training

Yesterday morning I got up at 4:00 to get ready to run. By 5:20 I was out the door and on the roads.

Around 5:30 AM on Saturday morning

The day was already warm and the air felt a little heavier than usual, perhaps due to the cloud cover. But the clouds were starting to thin, making for a beautiful morning. The sky was full of purple and pink hues, mixed among the dark clouds that looked as if they were promising rain. The clouds worked in my favor the whole time, covering the sun so I didn’t overheat, despite the fact that there wasn’t much breeze and absolutely no rain.

I felt like I took the whole run at a pretty leisurely pace, my heart rate was pretty low and I never felt like I was pushing too hard. Overall that was an appropriate way for me to feel for a long run day, especially one week before my next race.

I’m running the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon on July 18, something I’m pretty excited about. Part of me just needs to prove to myself that I can go out and do this race by myself. I love having my friends with me in races, but I want to go do the distance at my own pace and see what I can pull off on my own.

But for now I guess I’m in the taper phase. I have to admit, I’m struggling with the idea. I know most people have a hard time tapering, I’m not alone in this phenomenon. But I’ve NEVER done a taper for a 1/2 marathon. Every half marathon I’ve done has happened during marathon training. So this is a new thing for me.

If you’ve got any taper tips for the 13.1 mile distance (or stories about your own taper madness), please share!

3 Responses to “Taper?”

lindsay 12 July 2009 at 12:33 pm Permalink

i love the gorgeous morning sky!

i’m too addicted to logging miles in my spreadsheet – my taper attempts aren’t always the best. good luck!! try to keep the ‘big picture’ in mind — going big on race day!

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Irish Cream 13 July 2009 at 12:47 pm Permalink

Ooh, pretty sky!

I agree with Lindsay that you just need to keep the big picture in mind; remember that as frustrating as tapering can be, going into a race with happy legs is super important to the goal at hand. I usually just try to keep myself as busy as possible during taper–makes the time go by faster!

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Terri 18 July 2009 at 9:17 am Permalink

Beautiful picture, and I’m glad that run went so well for you. That’s my favorite time of day to run, around sunrise, and when it’s overcast like that, it’s just wonderful.

I would say if you do any cross-training,don’t use any resistance, just keep it light and do enough to keep the muscles moving and warm. But don’t overdo anything. And be sure to eat well all week, but this is nothing new to you.

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