I've never been good at tapering, and I know I'm supposed to do it. But in my crazy schedule I haven't yet had time to test my race day shoes at a race equivalent distance. So today, I put in a five mile run just two days prior to my five mile race.
It was what was best. For me. Thanks to disobeying the rules I feel much more confident that my Mizuno's can handle the race. Granted it wasn't the smartest decision.
If you are going to train a few days prior to an event, just because you feel you need to, do what I did.
1. Go so slow you can't stand it.
- I ran an eleven and a half minute mile today. That is painfully slow, even for me. But you don't want to over extend pre-race when you're supposed to be tapering down.
- This close to putting it all on the line you can't take any chances. You absolutely MUST NOT drain your body right now. In the taper stages you should be resting your body, so you absolutely cannot afford to take away from the rebuild process.
- While I enjoyed my run, I did so purely because the weather was fantastic and I needed the confidence of knowing my race gear was going to work out since I'd had no time to test it prior. Under typical circumstances hitting the bike would've been far better for me than running this close to pre-race. Hence the crawl speed pace.
Race = T minus two days.
Working two jobs at about 70 hours a week and now adding on the upcoming semester, I'm really looking forward to reading more here. I need some tips because between doing nothing behind a desk for 40 hours a week and working at one of the most unhealthy restaurants in America (Friendly's) for another 20-30 hours a week, it is safe to say I'm not in the shape I was out of high school. Hope you can help me!
ReplyDeleteGood for you, I ran a few laps around the track with my son a few weeks ago and I thought I'd pass out! Of course he continued with a few more laps so he could rub it in.
ReplyDeleteI disobey the rules in all the wrong ways!!! That 11.5 min mile is looking pretty good to me right now. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteAlright, this blog is great for two reasons... 1)I just realized what the background image was. Before I thought it had something to do with a car engine, or bullet casings, which made me think this was a blog about police officers or working the beat or something, which made me want to snooze a little bit.
ReplyDelete2) This is totally relevant to me. I literally just got a personal trainer to start running again on Thursday. I had a heart condition that prevented me from running since around middle school, and it was really depressing having to drop out of all of my sports, track and field, and personal running/biking activities. I recently had an EKG and Ultra-sound to verify my valves are good to go, so I'm back on the trails.
I tried my best on Thursday. I ran two miles. Three minutes running, one minute walking, 6 sets. My average pace was 11.5 minutes. That was me trying my best!
Well that was a wake-up call. Matt Barlet doesn't run 11.5 minute miles when he's trying his best. Over the past two days I've completely overhauled my diet, sleep routine, drinking habits (water, of course), and activity level. This morning I ran again in the pouring rain. 3.5 minutes on, 1.5 minutes off. I cut 2 minutes off of my average! Hell yeah!
I want to be a running machine. The life-long effect of my heart defect is that my resting heartrate (I'm talking laying down in bed and watching the grass grow on television) is 100 bpm. For someone who's 6'1" and 140 lbs, that's incredibly high. I overshoot my THR very quickly, so building stamina is paramount in my training (lest I see stars and pass out). I want to be able to run a half-marathon in the coming years, and maybe someday, a full marathon.
I'm totally psyched reading about your training. It's like a snapshot into the future of the choices I'll be making.
High-five!