Time to Taper
Things got shifted a little this week and I ended up doing my long run on Sunday…today. It was a 22 mile super slow effort. I think I was still feeling the love from yesterday’s workout run over 11 miles. The long run today concludes a 60+ mile week and the peak of my training for my upcoming race in a couple of weeks. Now its taper time.
For those unfamiliar with what that means…..well, welcome to the club. Here is my best description based on my limited knowledge. Basically you train up to a peak potential. Over a training period you get tired. You are constantly pushing yourself further and further. Distances get farther and hopefully you build up some fitness. Then for a two week period before your event you taper. During this time you still run…..just less and usually more easy efforts. This allows your body to recover and be fresh for the race. You don’t lose a significant or maybe any overall fitness during this little slowdown. The goal is to be super fresh on race day so you can go hard on rested legs.
This training block has been a bit of a struggle for me. I don’t feel as strong as I would like but I’m sure I can get the race done. Hopefully this taper will restore some strength and get me feeling good for race day. I don’t plan on breaking and records but I usually shoot to finish in the top 10%. If I can do that then it’s a success. Heck, just finishing an ultramarathon should be enough of a success. I don’t want to take away from that.
To be honest, I’m looking forward to the relaxed schedule. Towards the end of these training blocks you are running a lot! Again, 60+ miles this week over 5 runs. That’s an average of 12 miles per run……almost a half marathon average. Kinda coo coo.
I do love the challenge and it has been fun training up for this race. I’ve had a few hiccups along the way but I think I’ll get there. I’m looking forward to being in an official race for the first time in well over a year of cancelled races. There is something special about lining up with a bunch of other trail runners who are about to go through the same suffering as you. Why do we pay to put ourselves through this torture??? Our brains are just wired a bit differently and we like to push our mind and body I guess. Run a trail….be happy.
