What Runners Have to Understand About Tapering...

It's time to do a little more of this...

And a little less of this...

Today's 8 mile long run was the start of my taper week leading up to my half marathon next Saturday. I'm half excited to see what it will feel like to not be sore for a while, and half nervous that I'm going to go crazy during this rest week. That's why I'm going to write up a taper plan today and stick to it like I stick to my grocery lists at the store. Actually, I better stick to it better than that or else I'll be pretty sore on race day. I like following training plans and setting goals, so this week my goal will be to rest!

Even though running is hard a lot of the time, not running is a lot harder for me. I've known this for a long time, but it seems like it's even more apparent lately just how addicted I truly am to running. I guess I didn't realize it before because I'd never considered quitting my running addiction until recently. (I'm not quitting running by the way. I've just been considering turning this taper week into a few taper months.) This running addiction of mine has gradually crept up on me over the years. When I first started distance running about 6 years ago, I had to mentally gear myself up for my long runs each weekend. I used to kind of dread them/look forward to them at the same time. Now I just plain look forward to them. No more dread or pep talks, just some Friday night texts to my running buddies to figure out exactly when, where, and how far we're running the next day.

I pulled up an article on Runner's World about tapering after my run this morning to get myself in the  tapering mind frame, and I saw this quote that made me laugh. "Runners have to understand that they won't be fat by Thursday or lose their fitness by Sunday." (Janet Hamilton, M.A., C.S.C.S., an exercise physiologist at Running Strong in Atlanta.) 

So here's my half marathon taper plan for next week:

Monday: Pilates

Tuesday: Track Workout: 20 min. warm-up, 6x400, 20 min. cool down.

Wednesday: Pilates

Thursday: 3-4 mile run

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Fresh legs for race day! 

Janet Hamilton also said, "One of the best gifts you can give yourself is well-rested legs on race day."

I'll admit I have a little bit of anxiety looking at that taper plan. I know all you runners out there can relate, and all you non-runners are probably wondering what the heck is wrong with me. Tapering just might be the hardest part of race training, but I can do it!