Less than 2 weeks until the Martian Marathon which means I am on my taper. And I am going crazy. I have a love/hate relationship with tapering. I love it because it is something to look forward to after weeks of logging long miles. It finally gives the body a chance to rest. At the same time, I hate it because my body (and mind) is used to logging long miles and doesn’t know what to do with itself.
Yesterday, I had a taper injury panic. You know what I am talking about. That pain that you never noticed before and is probably just sore muscles, but because it is so close to race day, you fear the worst. I had an easy bike ride and was getting a weird pain in my knee. Thankfully though, it hasn’t bothered me since and I have done a 5 mile run since.
The taper injury panic yesterday was followed by the taper lack of preparedness panic today. I just had to do an easy 5 miles. I felt miserable the entire way. I was sluggish, tired, and sore. My arms hurt, my lungs hurt, my legs didn’t want to go and it felt like I was lugging a bag of cement. Mentally it was a frustrating run. After all my training and 5 miles is kicking my butt?? What the heck?? How am I going to do 26.2?? My confidence was boosted when I got home and looked at my watch to see that I had averaged 7:50 miles – probably faster than I should have been going.
Anyways, I just need to stay positive for the next 10 days. I know I have trained adequately. I know that my body will hold up. I just need to remember it.
March Totals
| Running | Swimming | Biking | Totals | |
| Number | 19 | 14 | 10 | 43 |
| Total Distance | 134.9 mi | 29050 yards | 254.4 mi | 405.8 mi |
| Time | 18:21:50 | 9:31:22 | 14:04:21 | 41:57:34 |
| Average Pace | 8:09 | 3:19 |
I am super happy with my numbers for month. Compared to last March, I had over 100 more miles and over 12 hours more time spent training. I just have to remember this as I taper so that I don’t get down on myself.
I leave you with song lyrics that keeps me going on my hard workouts. I first heard this at the beginning of the Steelhead half iron last year and it gets stuck in my head all the time:
This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!
-Fort Minor “Remember the Name”
5 comments
Maria says:
April 1, 2010 at 12:36 pm (UTC -5 )
That’s an awesome song and a great workout tune!
Jon says:
April 1, 2010 at 9:11 pm (UTC -5 )
You are going to rock the marathon! Any particular time goal you are shooting for?
lindsay says:
April 2, 2010 at 10:15 am (UTC -5 )
i love that song – pumps me up for hard workouts! taper madness is inevitable. the ‘extra’ time we have just allows for self-doubt! you’ve put in the work, “the hay is in the barn”, it’s time relax/cruise to race day
Lisa says:
April 3, 2010 at 2:53 pm (UTC -5 )
Happy Taper! I’ve just started my taper for the half marathon. Will probably be stir crazy next weekend. lol
Amy says:
April 4, 2010 at 10:49 pm (UTC -5 )
Phantom injuries, or even real ones, are very common during the taper. I’ve heard (from solid sources) that it’s actually your body repairing the damage you did during training and sometimes that means different muscles are achy.
You’re going to do great, can’t wait to hear how it goes.