In training for an event, any event, the closer I get to the starting line the more nervous I becomes. All the failures of training begin to haunt my mind. Doubts of achieving my goals become bigger and scarier. The desire to catch up on training grows. In the final two weeks of marathon preparation there is one exercise that is critical to me doing well. Rest.
With two weeks to go any endurance that has been gained is there. Any increases in speed have been gained. If I haven't developed the endurance and speed I wanted then it's too late. Now is the time to make the physical effort to back off from training and rest.
In the last 2 weeks if I try to compensate for missed training runs by running too fast or too long hard then there is the genuine risk that I will exhaust my body and not recover in time for the marathon. If my body is exhausted there is the risk I will catch some bug and get sick. I've run a marathon sick before and it's not pretty.
This phase of marathon preparation is called the taper. The amount of running one does significantly drops. Muscles recover. The immune system gets stronger. I still need to do some running, especially some short runs at marathon pace but no more than half of the weekly distances that I have been doing. I've been teaching my body to run for a while now so it is difficult to now tell it rest. But rest I must.
We live in a world that is already sleep deprived. We stay up late. The alarm gets us up early. Our bodies are so tired we think this is normal. Rest feels awkward and foreign. A luxury our lifestyle doesn't permit. That's what makes the exercise, the physical effort, of getting to bed early, of holding back from running, of sleeping well, so hard. That's what makes this so difficult an exercise but it's also the most important.
In your preparation for an event, physical or otherwise, do you taper? Do you allow yourself time to recover so that you are at 100% health before the event or do you train and keep trying right up to the starting line?
2 weeks to go.
With two weeks to go any endurance that has been gained is there. Any increases in speed have been gained. If I haven't developed the endurance and speed I wanted then it's too late. Now is the time to make the physical effort to back off from training and rest.In the last 2 weeks if I try to compensate for missed training runs by running too fast or too long hard then there is the genuine risk that I will exhaust my body and not recover in time for the marathon. If my body is exhausted there is the risk I will catch some bug and get sick. I've run a marathon sick before and it's not pretty.
This phase of marathon preparation is called the taper. The amount of running one does significantly drops. Muscles recover. The immune system gets stronger. I still need to do some running, especially some short runs at marathon pace but no more than half of the weekly distances that I have been doing. I've been teaching my body to run for a while now so it is difficult to now tell it rest. But rest I must.
We live in a world that is already sleep deprived. We stay up late. The alarm gets us up early. Our bodies are so tired we think this is normal. Rest feels awkward and foreign. A luxury our lifestyle doesn't permit. That's what makes the exercise, the physical effort, of getting to bed early, of holding back from running, of sleeping well, so hard. That's what makes this so difficult an exercise but it's also the most important.
In your preparation for an event, physical or otherwise, do you taper? Do you allow yourself time to recover so that you are at 100% health before the event or do you train and keep trying right up to the starting line?
2 weeks to go.
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