Before most races, I get a little nervous.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s a 5K or a half-marathon, or even The Macklind Mile.
But this marathon business is a whole other deal.
The training has gone pretty well. As usual, I’ve stuck pretty close to a training plan, missing only a few days when family events made it hard to follow. And then, I got right back on track after a day or two. But I just haven’t been prepared for tapering.
Tapering. That’s the runner’s word for resting and recovery; allowing the body to gather strength by essentially dramatically reducing the amount of miles (or stress) placed on the body by running. The problem is that I want to go out and run! After climbing up to 50 mile weeks from my usual 20-30, it’s a challenge to start my day with a 3 mile run. Even my last long run of 11 miles, just didn’t seem enough. And yet, every thing I’ve read indicates that tapering is extremely important.
Anyway, I’m getting very close to packet pick-up and then the family events, and finally race day on Sunday.
Until then . . . I’m tapering.
