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Marathon Reflection Monday: The REAL Taper Edition

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{So, this is the post I had wanted to do LAST Monday}.

Way back when I first started training for a marathon and the whole concept of a 3:30 finish time was pretty abstract, I thought if I could do my last 20 miler with an average of 9 minute miles (1 minute slower than marathon pace), my training would have been a success.  

This is based on my Half Marathon Land ability to run races a minute faster per mile than my long runs.  Also, the experts at these things say long runs should be between 30 seconds and a minute and a half slower than race pace.

But first…

OMG TAPER!!!  But really this time! (for the record, this may be the first time I’ve actually ever typed out “OMG” but if any occasion calls for it, it’s this one!).

If you didn’t know, Aaron and I were both quite ill last weekend and decided against running our last scheduled 20 mile run.  After weighing the options, we decided to postpone the long run to Saturday.  Even though it was not ideal to allow only a 2 week taper,  we didn’t feel adequately prepared.  On marathon day we would have been 5 weeks out from our last long run.  Physically, I don’t know if that’s as terrible as it sounds, but mentally, it was quite unnerving.

So, we woke up and did our last 20 miler on Saturday.  I knew from the beginning that I’d take it slower than normal just to make sure my legs didn’t get too trashed.  Mornings have been cold and dark, so we started much later than we had during the summer…at about 7:40.

We did the same course we did on our first 20 miler.  Lots and lots of uphill with an eventual 6 mile downhill at the end.  Truthfully, it was a rather uneventful run in the best way possible.

Everything felt good.  I fueled at mile 7, drank a half liter of Gatorade at mile 10, and fueled again at mile 16.5.  At no point did I hate running (GOOD!).  My body didn’t hurt, and even my feet didn’t get tired (EVEN BETTER!).  I didn’t get depressed over the amount of mileage left (considering some of my earlier long runs, this is a huge Amy breakthrough).  It did start getting warm at around mile 15 and I was thirsty, but it was nothing compared to some of the temperatures of summer.

I finished 20 miles in 3 hours and 53 seconds.  9:02 pace.  It felt comfortable and strong, and is almost 8 minutes faster than the first go 5 weeks ago when I wasn’t focused on taking it easy or going slow.

And more than that, it gave me the confidence that has been wavering over the past few weeks.

With all the good things that running brings, it can also turn into an all-consuming quest to be better (than myself or others) or to crush goals.  Both worthy aspirations in my book.  But I am incredibly competitive and Type A.  The underlying pressure of meeting my goal of running a Boston qualifying marathon has sometimes driven me to insanity.  I’ve felt inadequate, weak, or just plain not enough during this process.

Yesterday, I tried to go back to why I came up with that crazy goal in the first place.  It wasn’t because I really thought I could qualify on my first try.  The odds are not in my favor, and looking around blog land, many faster runners than me aren’t able to run marathons that fast.

I set a high goal so I would work hard and give it my best effort.  To say that I would simply finish would allow me to take it easy.  I wanted to give this marathon training my all, and I knew the only way I would do that is if I set my bar high.

I don’t know if doing this long run was the best idea.  The general consensus during #runchat yesterday was that trying to make up runs during taper time is pretty much the stupidest thing you can do (I of course didn’t publicize our 20 miler to the marathon #runchat people for fear of being judged). I don’t know if I’ll recover enough in two weeks.  But I am feeling a billion more times confident in my ability.  And I think that is everything.

I ran the final long run that I wanted, and my hope in myself is renewed!

So, now all we can do is make this a very effective taper and we’re pulling out all sorts of stops. Air filters running constantly in the house, hanging out in the steam room at the gym everyday to get rid of residual sickness crud, being diligent about daily vitamins and supplements, and eating so clean it hurts (with the exception of some special occasions coming up).  I’m also going to try to put those yoga for runner’s DVD’s to good use (they have been used exactly zero times during this marathon training season), and ice/stretch/roll muscles everyday.

And that’s about all we can do.  Training is done.  Now it is time to sit back, and hope that our efforts over the last 3.5 months were enough.  And if they weren’t….well, at least it looks like I’ll be able to finish  my first marathon in under 4 hours!

Have a fantastic week! I’ve seen some fantastic race PR’s from this weekend!



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