With Brighton, Manchester and Taunton marathons in just 10 days, and London a week later, it feels as if the whole world is on a taper.
I’ll ‘fess up. I used to do it all wrong during those last few weeks before the big day. To me, it was my reward for all the tough long runs. A time to relax and hit the carbo. Hard.
Mistakes? I’ve made a few….
Like kicking back too much, too soon on the training, and arriving at the start line feeling like I could barely run 10 miles, let alone 26. Bad idea.
Or getting carried away four days before a marathon, feeling full of energy, and turning a planned tempo run into an eyeballs-out sprint. Also a bad idea.
Or using the day before the Berlin marathon to go sightseeing. For six hours. Very bad idea.
Tapering’s a tricky balancing act. Yes, it’s important to give the body a chance to recover and rebuild. But I also want to stay sharp for race day.
So this time, I’m treating the taper with the same care as the previous 18 weeks.
Practice, practice, practice
The conditioning work’s done. I’m not getting any fitter between now and race day. What I can do, though, is prepare and rehearse.
Taunton is marathon number 7 for me, but it’s completely different from the previous six.
For starters it’s not in a big city. It’s not crowded. And it’s not flat.
Instead, it’s a two-lap “undulating” (read: a bit hilly) combined half-marathon and marathon course. Most runners stop after the first lap, which means pacing at the start will be tricky.
Combine that with the adrenaline of race day, and the biggest risk is going off too quickly.
So I’m preparing by rehearsing my start pace. A lot.
I’ve been able to do a lot of my training on the actual route – running a home town marathon has its benefits. But even if you have to travel, mocking up a course similar to the race and practicing pacing really helps build confidence and avoids wrecking your day with a badly judged start.
Carbo loading right
I love pasta. I’ll admit it. There have been times when I’ve started my carbo loading early. Guilt free spaghetti guzzling – it’s what tapering’s all about, right? And let’s just say that my definition of carbs has been a little…well…generous. Chocolate counts too, surely?
But, sadly, carbo loading’s actually only needed for the three days before the marathon, not the three weeks. And while you need to take in more carbo, loading up on too many extra calories isn’t a good idea. That means less fat and protein, so I’ll have to save my chocolate stash for after the race – boo!
Keep moving
I’ve written before about how the day job can wreck your running. It’s even more important to keep the body relaxed and aligned during tapering. Ten days spent on the sofa will do me no favours.
So I’m making sure I take regular breaks to move around, practice the Chi Running body looseners and stretch.
And this year, I’ll be doing something I’ve never done before: running the day before the marathon.
Say what now? Surely I should be resting my legs, ready for the big day?
Well, contrary to what I used to think, a gentle jog the day before is just what I need to prepare. It gets blood to the muscles, helping them relax and store extra glycogen. And it’s a great way to burn off that pre-race tension.
A relaxed 20 minute run won’t tire me out, but it will set my body up to perform better.
Calming the nerves
Previous marathons, that little voice in my head’s been whispering that I should have done more training. Now with this one, I’m fretting whether I’ve done too much. Seems that there ‘s no way to prepare that will completely silence the nerves.
So alongside practicing my pacing, I’ve been working on relaxing and staying calm. Meditation helps, as does focusing on belly breathing, including while running.
One of the key principles of Chi Running is learning to cooperate with the forces you come up against, instead of trying to oppose them. Fighting them just makes them stronger. And that applies as much to the mind as the body.
I know I’ll get nervous, over the next 10 days and on race day. The more I attempt to fight the nerves, and push them away, though, the more stressed I get. Instead, I try to acknowledge the fact that I’ll get anxious, accept it, and just let it go. Sounds simple, but the effect’s profound.
So this year, I’m putting as much care into my tapering as I have into the rest of my training. If all goes to plan, that runner looking relaxed and ready on the start line? That’ll be me, that will 😊
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash