I’m so excited that I made it to my first taper week. Surprisingly, I’m not as tired or burnt out from running as I expected to be. While training for my first half marathon I got so bored of running the same types of runs over and over. I longed for an iFit treadmill workout with random inclines and intervals. However, those runs didn’t meet my distance requirements in my training plan at the time. Looking back, I probably should have thrown a couple of those runs in anyway just to get myself excited again.
This training cycle is 18 weeks long and I’m just starting week 16. I’m still going strong and happy to do my runs most days but I’m looking forward to cutting back on mileage. This first taper week cuts my mileage back to 32 miles, down from 43 miles last week and 44 miles at my peak training during week 11.
Day 106: Day 1 of taper
The first day of my taper is a recovery run following my 20 mile long run two days ago. Yesterday was a full rest day. Most of the soreness from my long run has subsided. I just have a bit of stiffness remaining. It continues to be rainy and cold so I opted for a treadmill run this morning. I slept in a little since today was a holiday and I could start my run later. Finally got started at 8:00 A.M. for my 5 mile conversational pace run.
I kept the treadmill speed consistent for the whole run at the low end of my conversational pace range. Maybe I could have pushed it but that’s not the purpose of a recovery run. I really wanted to just recover and get my blood pumping a little. I felt invigorated when I stepped off the treadmill so I did this workout right.
Day 107: Day 2 of taper
Temperatures dropped even lower this morning into the 40’s with rain in the forecast. I’ve decided that my next two conversational pace runs will be on the treadmill. Then, I’ll run my marathon pace run outside on Thursday when the rain is supposed to have subsided.
All of the residual soreness and stiffness from the 20 mile long run have disappeared and I feel normal again. I kept the pace on the treadmill consistent at the low end of my easy pace range for half of the run. Then, I bumped it up a tenth of a mile every mile after that until I reached my 6 mile goal. My heart rate stayed well within my aerobic zone during the whole run despite the initial heart rate error reading that was 50 beats higher than my aerobic zone at the very beginning of the run. My reading looks like someone jumped out of a closet and scared the bejeezus out of me. I’m not sure what caused that reading but it was clearly an error.
Day 108: Day 3 of taper
The rain is gone but it’s still 40 degrees outside so I stuck with my treadmill running plan. I had 5 conversational pace miles on the plan for today. I really settled into this run quickly and easily. My heart rate was even lower today than it has been all week but I was able to bump up the speed on the treadmill to the top of my conversational pace zone. I’m really feeling good on this initial part of the taper and excited to see how it progresses. So far no taper crazies. Just feeling good on my treadmill runs.
Day 109: Day 4 of taper
Running outside in the cold on marathon pace days is not as daunting to me as running at a conversational pace in the cold. I layered up for my run in the clear, 40 degree temperatures but I was actually a bit too warm after my warm up. I did not need the base layer under my long sleeve top. I could have gotten away with a short sleeve technical shirt and a long sleeve pullover. At least it was only 4 miles, so I was done pretty quickly and wasn’t too warm for too long.
I’m consistently wearing my Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 shoes now for all long runs and marathon pace runs so I can test them out and get comfortable in them. They are starting to feel really good. You know you’re running in a good shoe when you completely forget about them and don’t notice your shoes as you’re running. That’s how they are feeling now.
Day 110: Day 5 of taper
Friday’s are my new cross training day and the taper weeks still contain cross training and runner’s strength training. I had to take my car to the mechanic early this morning so I got a very early start on my workout at 5:00 A.M. I started off with a 32 minute spin bike ride. iFit took me to Hana Bay Beach Park in Thailand today. Then, I did a 40 minute runner’s strength training workout with bands and bodyweight. I didn’t have time for MOBO board work so I told myself I’d do it later in the day. However, later in the day came and went and it never happened.
Workouts
Day 106
- 5 miles at conversational pace on the treadmill
Day 107
- 6 miles at conversational pace on the treadmill
Day 108
- 5 miles at conversational pace on the treadmill
Day 109
- 4 miles at marathon goal pace
Day 110
- 32 minutes cross training on spin bike
- 40 minutes runner’s strength conditioning