They say this is tricky time for any marathon runner, but in particular for the first marathon runner. You cut down on your physical trainer to allow your body to recover and repair any damaged tissue. So naturally if you're not still training physically that leads you to ponder and reflect. It's getting me to look into my mental strategies in some more detail.
The Taper refers to a three week period between your longest run and the day you actually run the marathon. The thinking is that the bulk of this time is spent, relaxing, stretching with some gentle 'recovery' runs. The idea is that the body is recovering and re-establishing its strength. This is all in preparation for the big day.
It's also important to eat carefully. The intention here is to build up your levels of glycogen. Glycogen is the element in your body that gives you the energy to run and endure the length of time that is required to complete the marathon.
All of that said, you are still doing as many runs as any other week of the training plan. But the runs are much shorter. So I went from a 22 mile run to a 11 mile run a week later. That's cutting the distance down by 50%. But I still felt it at the time. It was in my knees, at about mile 5, 6, 7, 8 and then to the end of the run. There are a lot of hills on this running route so that adds to the endurance. I managed to complete the distance okay but the fact is my pace has dropped off.
My body is tired. It needs this recovery time. I'm questioning whether I might have over-trained. By that I mean run too many miles. But there's no point in going down this path. Perhaps it's better to develop a new strategy. This new strategy is simply to recognise the current situation and adjust my thinking and goals as a result. This is not a massive adjustment. It's a minor change in thinking. I intend to go back to my thinking back in the early days of my training.
Back in February there was so much training to be done that I didn't have an expectation on the big day itself. At that point in time my mind was focussed on the training not the actual marathon run. I went into each training run with a very positive attitude and as a result I found each run relatively easy. As time has gone on and the training has gone well, I've gradually increased my expectation on myself. I've gradually started to challenge myself that I can put in an excellent time on the big day. And yet at the outset I was quite clear that my goal is to enjoy the day, enjoy the experience and complete the marathon.
As I write this now. I'm now into my last week of this experience. I had a further niggle last Sunday. I tried taping up my knees and although the support felt good, I good a pull on my hamstring. This is the first time this has happened in all of my training. Pretty frustrating for this to happen 7 days before my first marathon. I've been talking to other runners and I've also talked to my Chiropractor. Every day I've been using hot and cold treatment, Sue's been massaging my legs and I've been stretching the Quads and the Hamstrings. The leg is feeling better but I will be listening to my legs particularly in the early miles.
I've got faith in my training and the rational around the taper period. I'm confident I'll be ready on Sunday for the run of my life along with thousands of other people. So many people who have been through this before have told me this was the experience of their life!
Thanks so much to all who have supported me, by reading this blog, sending me messages of support and making a contribution to my charity. Sincerely, it has really helped to keep me going through the training and it will genuinely keep me going this Sunday.
There's still time to sponsor my charity, the Outward Bound Trust by clicking on the link,
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JonSleeper
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