Wednesday 4-15-09 - Tapering

Many of us are racing the Country Music Marathon or 1/2 marathon on April 25, and have put in a lot of hard work over the last 3 months.  When we are this close to a big race, remember this: there is nothing you can do to make you run faster, but there is a lot that you can do to make you run slower.   What does that mean?  Basically, your body has an adaptation period of about 7-10 days.  Meaning that you do not receive the physiological benefits of a workout for that amount of time.   We are about 10 days away from race day.

So here are the applications:

1) No more long runs.  Your body does not have time to recover from a long run, so you would experience all the fatigue of a long run - without having time to receive the benefits.  This weekend should be a medium long run (6-9 miles), with a portion of that run (3-5 miles) at 1/2 marathon pace.  

2) Weekly mileage reduced.  Two weeks before a race, your mileage should be 70% of normal, and one week before a race, it should be 40% of usual.  

3) Workouts shortened, but not eliminated.   It is not a bad idea to do a short workout next Tuesday.   Maybe 2 miles of repeats at race pace.  All other runs should be easy.

4) Rest and hydration  are priorities.   April 25th could be 40 degrees and raining, or 75 degrees and sunny.   We're used to the cold stuff, but a hot day will throw our bodies for a loop.  Either way - we need to go into the race well hydrated, so drink more water than you think you need...starting now! Drinking lots of water the morning  of the race is not hydrating oneself!!

Run slowly for the next two Wednesdays.  Enjoy the loop into downtown! (Run #5)  Next week we'll talk about carb loading, myth or reality?!!?

Mark

PS Remember to bring a change of clothes and some cash for 3 Crow.