Sorta.
The first time I trained for a marathon I definitely was looking forward to it. Until it was time. Then I learned about the 'taper tantrums'.
Even now, just 8 days away from my taper for Chicago, while I am indeed looking forward to it, I also am fearing it.
Because I know what goes along with it.
Doubt.
Restlessness.
Weight gain (if you arent careful)
Doubt.
Doubt.
Doubt.
As you can see its mostly doubt.
Have you done enough?
Have you ran enough long runs?
Did you do everything you could to be ready?
Can I run farther than my last long run?
I'm not going to be running farther than probably 13 miles 2 weeks out..then its 10, then its 8. Whaaat? How am I going to be able to run 26.2 miles if I am not running longer runs than that?
What if I get sick?
What is that tingling in my legs?
What is wrong with my foot?
What is that pain in my knee?
Can I run 26.2 miles? Really, I mean, can I?
Oh its neverending I tell you. I have had all those thoughts time after time after time. It never goes away no matter how many you do. You will go out for a short run and it'll suck. You'll have to walk maybe. And then the mental bells go off in your head? OMG! OMG! I am never going to be able to run this marathon.
Yes you will.
A lot of the little aches and pains you will experience is your body healing. Healing from all the damage you've done up to this point. Fibers are repairing themselves. Muscles are rebuilding. And when these things are happening, it kinda hurts sometimes. Like in achy breaky kind of pains. Phantom pains is what I call them.
Trust in your training. If you did the work, then you're going to be a-ok. If you didnt, well I dont know what to tell you :) Nothing is going to make a difference now. You reap what you sow.
The thing is the taper is for resting. Not complete rest. Continue to follow the schedule you have. Run easy and dont try and run on the full on rest days. They are there for a reason.
Try and resist the feeling that you are starving to death. You are running less and the last thing you really want to do is pack on too many lbs before the big day.
Sleep well and often. Eat. Revel in the fact that the training is the hardest part and you did it. Try and not let the mental demons invade your mind-space and do too much damage in there.
Be excited. Its almost time...
I am, as I said, 8 days away from my taper, 6 more runs to be exact...too bad one of them is a 22 miler :) and I am already stressing about what is going to begin to happen on Sunday, September 19th...
Yep, the taper tantrums will return in full force...
Again, be excited. Its almost time...
2 comments:
Don't call on those demons and they won't appear. The ones that you'll probably deal with this time are the ones that "marathoners" face...the ones that say "Can I really hold that pace for 26.2 miles?" "How am I going to handle it when it starts to hurt?" "When is it going to start to hurt? I hope not till 25.2 miles." Those are the ones I remember before this past January's marathon. They were nothing like the "demons" faced for prior runs. This marathon and your next on are different than prior races. You know you can do the distance. You're running for time. You're running for improvement, so the question becomes "Have I improved as much as I wanted to? As much as I feel like I have? There's now way...blahblahblah." The fact is you have, and you'll doubt it some, but as long as the reality talk overrules that "demon" talk, you'll be just fine. Keep truckin' along...
I'm going to bookmark this post so I can come back to it when I get closer to my first marathon (hopefully this December). I especially like Sam's comment, even though it doesn't apply to me right now. :D
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