Ahh, the tapering runner! I’m so grateful it’s only 2 weeks to the London Marathon.
While the miles are down, my legs feel heavy and unresponsive and I’ve got too much time on my hands and way too much energy to know what to do with. Slight irritations are turning into major ones.
I’m stuck in sucky thought loops that go something like this ‘This is going to be a disaster…I’m so unfit…I’ll never finish…Nooooo…’ Maranoia hasn’t hit yet so that’s something to look forward to.
There is nothing rational about this but it is very normal. So OK, my last long run, while fab because I had company for the first 14 miles, then turned sucky when I was on my own. On my way home with heavy legs I did come across a pheasant – the first one I’ve seen wandering the streets of Southeast London – it provided a great distraction for a moment or two.
On dealing with a shitty final LSR, I have to remember that the week before I did a pretty good 20 miler and this was on top of quite a few miles during that week. I also have to remember that while I’ve been running for a few years, running really took a backseat last year. Parkrun on New Year’s Day seemed a long way!
As suggested at the session I went to on tapering at Run and Become, it’s time for some distraction activities. I’m meeting friends for lunch, going to some talks (I’m a geek at heart and a good talk makes me very happy), blogging and kicking off a few web based projects that have nothing to do with running!
Here’s to a less grumpy post next week!
Training Recap
Saturday – 18.4 miles LSR. The first 15 miles or so was fine and then my lower legs decided to have a hissy fit. I think it could just be a case of building up the miles over the last few months.
Sunday – wandered about, core and rolling
Monday – core and rolling, walking. Pre-marathon session at Run and Become. You can read some pointers here.
Tuesday – core and rolling and a pilates class
Wednesday – 5.5 miles – it was fine. Struggled a little in trying to get an even marathon pace but I have a few weeks so this is something I’ll be concentrating on.
Thursday – core and rolling and some light weights; had the grumps as waiting for a delivery that never showed!
Friday -5.3 miles – happy with this. My pace was much more even and was also feeling quite strong! Core and rolling
Total – 29.2 miles
And while you’re here
I’m running the London Marathon to support a wonderful organisation called Free to Run. You can read more about my #reasontorun here.
Please support – any amount gratefully received whether it’s £1 or $1 or £100 or $100. You can go to my JustGiving page here.
(April 2017)
Enjoy the tapering, you’ve worked hard enough for the last x weeks to enjoy some rest! London will come round soon enough now!!
Cheers Matt! Here’s hoping I get over the grumps in the meantime! Let the resting commence!
You will get over those grumps!! Enjoy the taper time…I’ve ran enough now that personally, I can’t wait till taper time, but like every other marathon runner I certainly can relate to all those crazy thoughts. Don’t worry about that final LSR…I always say I’d prefer to have a rough training run than a rough race day. You’ll do great…cheers!
Thanks so much James. I think I just need a little more distraction so off for lunch with friends!! And I know from my first mara where I had some nightmare LSRs, it’s what saw me through to the finish line as the whole run was pretty much a nightmare. I’m feeling so much stronger this time round! Cheers and happy running!