This morning my thoughts are "elsewhere", so you'll have to deal with bullet point
#My legs feel fairly good, too. I had a massage on Thursday and it was encouraging to know that there are not trouble areas; she was able to release all the knots (small!). This was my first sports/deep tissue massage and loved it. It was amazing to see how she would find a knot, press on it hard, and then I would go from excruciating pain to relaxation as the knot got released. I am a believer!
#I decided to trust my plan and follow it without last minute modification. A 2 week taper worked for me in the past, and this is what I am doing. I tend to lose fitness quickly (and gain it quickly) so a longer taper would most likely not be good for me. There has also been some talk on competitor.com about shorter tapers being the "new trend" which reinforced my decision (coz I like to be part of the trend, ha!). On the other hand Paula Radcliff takes 3 days off before her marathons, so really this is all individual.
# I figured out my nutrition for the race: Pineapple Roctane and Vanilla, my stomach approved choices. Now I need to figure out my outfit!
# My big grant is in! Now, the waiting! Grr!
# I am feeling a bit sad to start the taper. Sure, it will be great to be able to go do a run that is shorter than 10 miles, but there is a discipline that training hard gives me, and a sense of accomplishment, which I am going to miss.
# Time to work on my mental game, catch up on old work and home projects, and plan my post marathon get away with Chris!
12 comments:
80 miles! holy crap...that's uncharted territory for me. you are so ready!
Yeah, figuring out the outfit is hard :)
I always say, I can be fast OR look cool (well, my cool is probably different from most people cool). I can't be both. Or at least I have not figured out yet how to achieve that.
The outfit planning may be harder for you than all those miles at such a fast pace. Where is the marathon? Good luck with the taper. I like them but I know many people don't.
@Baystate marathon in Lowell!
I've been tapering less when I'm "racing" a marathon. I will be running MDI on Oct. 16th and I'm not tapering at all, but I'm not "racing" it. IT will be a training run.
I'm totally with you on being sad when the hard training ends. Currently, I'm training for Baton Rouge in Dec. I can feel that I'm getting stronger each wk. I LOVE the feeling of training hard, and seeing the miles add up. It's an addiction for sure. I feel it! I love it! Good Luck with the short taper. You are so strong and ready.
Thanks so much! It was an awesome day! And, good luck with the taper! Your going to be awesome!
80 miles!! go AM! i am with you - i can't do a long taper. 1-2 weeks is my taper max.
Last week of the taper, woohoo!! Of course you'll be back to marathon training eventually...so enjoy the shorter distances after...but first, let's get that sucker checked off - you're going to do fantastic! :)
37 at or below MP!!! Another super strong LR, 80 miles. Holy $%#& Huge milestones here. I feel good FOR you. SO good! Man, I've enjoyed watching you slaughter this training cycle. I'll have you know, I'm more excited about your race than the Olympics-ha!
Glad the massage was awesome! I think you totally know your body and I'm totally confident you're making the right decision with your taper. PLUS, even without a taper and 80 miles you can spank out 18.6 in WAY under MP:)
Have fun planning that getaway! You SO deserve it!!!!
37 of those miles at/sub MP !! HUGE.
I'm sure the shorter taper will be perfect for you. I always feel I loose a little juice during despite keeping some speedwork in my legs. You will be sucessfull.
I can't belive you've never had a sports massage. Moreover, I can't belive you barely had any knots! When I returned from injury I was getting them once a week and EVERY WEEK she would have to work out these HUGE knots in my calves. Always at least one big one and mutliple small ones. And that was every week. I am a very mechanically challenged runner. Unlike you. More proof that your born for this sport AM. And as much as it kills me to work so hard to see such little results I am glad to see you capitalize on your God given abilities and strenghths.
You are going to rock this!
Yay! I can't wait to Baystate! With your training, even a bad day is going to be good! And a good day? Well, that will be incredible! Rest up, and get ready to kick butt...
80 miles is amazing. I am so impressed at how much training your body is able to absorb.
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