Its become that time for me to think about what I should NOT do while I taper for my first marathon of the season on September 13th. I’ve written this type of post many times, but always think that its important for me to remember these tips because they really do lead to success .. I think I follow most of them, although maybe i’m not as faithful as I should be to them. Note that I only consider these tips during my single week of tapering, since I taper different than other marathoners. Since I run multiple marathons in a season, I dont do a 2-3 week taper, I do a single week, and thats it ..
Anyway, here are jokach’s tips on what NOT to do when tapering for a marathon:
1. DON’T stress over things you cannot control (a good example is that the weather will be what it is …prepare for anything and make the most of whatever is thrown at you). I have trained in the heat, the cold, the rain, thunderstorms .. you name it. If you trained for things you cannot control, you have NOTHING to lose!
2. DON’T try anything new. (that means food, shoes, supplements, drugs, etc.) You’ve made it this far, don’t try to change the routine
3. DON’T walk around the house barefoot in the dark. (you don’t want to break a toe or get a major bruise or fall down the steps or something)
4. DON’T think that your “race day magic” will allow you to run 20-30 seconds per mile faster for the entire 26.2 miles. (it won’t happen, stick to what you trained for)
5. DON’T forget to take some time to be objective about your fitness and be prepared to adjust to race day conditions. Remember that I said in number 1 that things will be what they will be, so be flexible. Not every race is the perfect race as much as you want it to be. I’ve had GREAT marathons, and BAD marathons .. all for different reasons, so you can’t predict it.
6. DON’T fail to thoroughly plan logistics, this includes travel, packing for the race, etc. Know where you are going, how to get there, the packet pickup time, where bag dropoff is, etc … (Running around at the last minute only makes the nerves worse). I stressed out terribly at the MCM last year over this, and it didn’t help that it was raining like cats and dogs the day before…
7. DON’T think negative thoughts. Remember that you DID the training, and you have to remember to always TRUST YOUR TRAINING! You did the miles and the workouts, and if you feel you’ve accomplished something, you have, and believe me, you’ll be fine!
9. DON’T obsess over those aches and twinges that seem to be coming out of nowhere for no reason. You’re body is in repair mode during taper, repairing all the muscles and ligaments for many weeks of pounding the pavement, its natural to feel achy.
10. DON’T go on a diet thinking that you can lose a couple pounds in time for the race. Remember that you still need calories for recovery during this time, and its too late to lose those pounds!
As one can expect, its hard to stay focused, but i’m very excited already that the marathon is next weekend, and am already planning the logistics. The best part is that Baltimore is only a few more weeks off, and Baltimore is beautiful that time of year (trust me, I was there last year at that time).. Its just a wonderful time of year now that the hard-core training is over.
So I managed to get 12 miles in this morning, and expect to get 14 in tomorrow morning before slowly cutting back Monday through Thursday, off Friday and a couple mile run on Saturday. I have to get my packet after work one of these nights .. it’ll be easier than doing it Saturday because there is NO EXPO for this race (which doesn’t bother me at all).
I expect the race coverage to pick up on Channel 69 (WFMZ) this week since they are a sponsor of the Lehigh Valley Health Network Marathon .. it seems to be pretty well promoted and the website says that registrations have been doing quite well, so it should be a good turnout.
Remember that if you’re tapering like me, take some time to enjoy the reduced miles .. we’ve all worked hard for it.