Taper Madness

It's real people, taper madness! What is it you ask? Let's ask the experts at Runner's World. "Taper, or tapering, refers to the reduction of exercise before a competition or race. Tapering is believed to be essential for best performance and can take from as little to a week to two or three weeks" (http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/tapering). Taper madness is the plague of ideas and urges that you go through in this time frame.

Does this sound familiar: "Nobody touch me, I can't afford to get sick now!" or "I just want to keep running!" or "Why does my leg hurt? Am I injured? What if it doesn't heal in time for the race? I put in so much effort training, I can run through the pain right?"

If any of these have happened to you, remember you are not alone. Training for any race is an accomplishment in itself, but to start slowing down after you worked so hard to get your speed up, or long more miles can be extremely difficult. Especially since we know our bodies can handle it, I mean we just did weeks and weeks of it right?

Going the extra mile, literally and figuratively can be detrimental at this point. Tapering gives your body time to repair from all the work its been putting in. That way when it's time for race day you will have fresh legs, not legs that are sore. Let's face it we all want to preform best on race day so why do something that could be a detriment?

One thing I do when I notice some muscle pains during tapering is to stretch it out a little longer than usual. If it's tight then it's probably unhappy, so give them a little extra love. I try to add in a yoga class in the week of the race, the day before if it matches up, so that I can give my whole body the good stretching that it needs.

The getting sick part is a real mental game for sure. When you cut down your mileage you have extra time on your hands, so what better to do than to worry right? Wrong! Turn that negative into a positive, if you're worried about getting sick then take extra precautions. Drink more water; we all know our bodies could use more. That's going to be the biggest help in preventing illness and helping with repairs.

But with all the negative aspects of Taper Madness we easily over look the positive. You might be asking yourself what positives could come from such a horrible two or three weeks?! I know I've asked that to myself several times too. The answer is: Carb Loading! Races require a lot of energy so this is the time to start taking in more carbs to store up. And let's face it, who doesn't like carbs anyways? So take this time to enjoy the pleasant things in life like pasta and pancakes!

*Please note that I am not a doctor, and none of my advice should be taken without consulting you doctor first.*