Taper Madness

Anyone who has ever run a marathon will understand this. You train hard for months, averaging 50-60+ miles per week and running nearly everyday. You eat to keep up with this training and people look at you like you're crazy, for 1) the amount of miles you run and 2) the amount of food you can eat and not gain, even lose weight at times.
Then all of a sudden you cut this training nearly in half and try to keep your sanity. You just want to get out and run, but your know it will only hurt you on race day. It is a constant battles between mind and body. On top of this you are so used to eating a zillion calories and need to remind yourself to cut this down a bit so that you won't be a giant by race day. This is what the expert call tapering, runners call it madness. If you are a runner or have ever lived with a runner you know why.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GoMacro Thrive Review and Giveaway!

Image
All runners know that post marathon week(s) are filled with the fight to keep eating healthy yet indulge a little. I try to carry healthy snacks wherever I go to avoid the munchies. Needing gluten free makes finding healthy foods quick even tougher. I have my go to foods but love finding new options with such variety. I think my only complaint is the carb to protein ratio which for each bar is 3 or 4:1. I prefer a snack more along the 2:1 carb to protein ratio. To help this I add a few extra nuts to the bars when I have them for a snack, problem solved! Like all GoMacro products, Thrive are USDA-Certified Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, Kosher, Gluten-Free certified, 100% Vegan, and soy-free. Thrive is currently available to purchase online and will become available to Whole Foods this month! GoMacro is offering 30% off to all my readers with code Thrive30 for online purchases Here The Thrive Bars come in 6 flavors: Caramel Coconut, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, Blueberry
Read more

Turkey Day 5K

Image
We have run this "race" many times, through name and sponsor changes, course changes and nasty weather. This year I went into it with hopes of a PR considering the perfect weather, but I failed to think about the massive amounts of people who would decide to run now that it wouldn't be too cold. I'm not sure the exact numbers but there had to be well over 5000 people, many who had no clue how to line up for a race. I lost track of the extreme numbers of walkers, kids, strollers and dogs I passed after it took almost 10 minutes to cross the start line! I spent much of my time weaving and trying not to trip over dog leashes or people stopping in mid course. I pleased to hit Mile 1 with a 7:40, still 1 minute over where I hoped but I figured much slower given the conditions. I finally found a guy to follow who making a path through the course and was able to hold that pace with a little trail running through the downtown parks. I didn't care since it was Nove
Read more

A few Races...

Image
Stillwater half was my final pre-marathon race. The weather was a mess, hot humid and gross! I ran with the 1:40 pacer to keep a nice pace and actually held myself back the first haf but yikes then we turned to the road and no shade and it all faded! I struggled to keep the "easy" pace as did everyone around me. I was happy to finish just 45 secs behind the pacer 1:40:45 and not too far off my goal of 1:38. That heat was brutal... Photo credit Stillwater Gazette Grandmas Marathon  For those who don't follow me on IG  @marathonmom28  here is the short version... I started great, on pace to PR then I became hypothermic (yes in June) and once the rain started it was painful (thank you Raynaud's). I finally walked off the course between mile 19-20 where Matt met me with dry clothes and a warm car. Grandmas this is strike 3, I think I am done!  I spent the car ride home thinking of next races and wondering if I could jump back in, (dumb I know). As we drove
Read more