Taper Time!

Posted by Sandi

In a few days, I will be running my first Boston Marathon! I am excited, anxious and nervous about the upcoming race. I think the excitement part is easily understood, but the anxiety and nervousness may need a little embellishment. I have TERRIBLE pre-race anxiety, no matter the distance or importance of the event. Heck, I even get nervous before intense track workouts and time trials. My pre-race anxiety starts as butterflies in my stomach (accompanied by self-doubt), and generally evolves to frequent trips to the bathroom L.  Hopefully the BAA has planned for the extra 7,000 or so participants this year.

I attribute my nerves to my training choices leading up to the race. As my training buds know, I ran the Oakland Marathon (dubbed my nemesis) about four weeks ago. Fingers crossed, this is the third time I have run Oakland, but the FIRST that I finished without injury! I should probably thank Rachel for keeping us under control-Thanks Rach! After running Oakland in 2011 and 2012, I spent most of the spring and early summer months cross-training and rehabilitating from tibial stress reactions and hip flexor strain/pelvic misalignment, respectively. The injuries were more than likely due to overtraining…something Chen and I are notorious for.  So with my previous mistakes in mind, I was determined not to overdo it before Boston.

I have cut back on running the past three weeks, with weekly training mileages of 35.2, 34.7 and 33.2; and for this week so far, I am at 16.2 miles. While I am confortable in cutting back on my weekly mileage, I am nervous about how much I cut back on my weekend “long runs,” which peaked at 12.5 miles. Sure, I threw in some swimming, spin classes, and a long or hilly bike ride to compliment the running, but I can’t shake these nerves. Here is a breakdown of my training since our “Tour de Bagel” last Saturday.

·         Sunday:              12 miles at 8:28 pace (3 miles of climbing)

·         Monday:              8 miles (4 miles at goal pace of 7:47)
                                1 mile swim time trial (just under 40 minutes)

·         Tuesday:             45 minute spin class
                                5 miles (3 miles at goal pace)

·         Wednesday:        3 miles (2 miles at goal pace)

Today is a rest day! I am travelling to Boston and have no workouts planned. With a couple of shake out runs standing between me and race day, I hope my anxiety will begin to dissipate.  If not, then I will have to rely on my customary pre-race (the night before) margarita to do the trick!

Be sure to check in for a race report.

-Sandi