Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Tapering, slacker style!

A number of times over the past week or two, various people have asked me, "aren't you supposed to be tapering?". My usual response is, "Tapers are for people who actually train." The truth is that my mileage lately has been too low to deserve a proper pre-marathon taper (105 miles in September?!) so I've kinda been winging it. I attempted my last long run on Thursday and totally bombed it... barely got 15 miles out of the planned 20. Then on both Saturday and Sunday I did the Grouse Grind (neither was planned). Monday was a 15k run with a friend from out of town. That leaves me 5 days to "taper". I guess it'll be more of a rest week instead.

I'm not worried about the distance; what I'm unsure of is whether I can maintain my planned pace over the distance. My goal is 4:35, which is not unreasonable, but given my low mileage I have no idea what will happen. There is only one way to find out! :)

I will start on pace for 4:35 and then see how I feel in the second half. Even if I fade in the second half, I should still PB (old best is 4:56 so there's lots of wiggle room!).

There will be online tracking at www.raceheadquarters.com (Bib #2470) if anyone would like to follow! Race starts at 9am PST.

5 comments:

  1. Good luck! Coming from an ultra background and dropping down in distance to run a marathon, I've always found you can usually get away with a much shorter taper. Have fun.

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  2. Have a great race! Ya know you will get to the finish and think "is that it?". You have a strong base you'll breeze through it - enjoy the pavement.

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  3. thanks guys! I am looking forward to a nice "easy" race, lol! I won't even be wearing my pack! :)

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  4. Good luck in your race!! Can't wait to see how you do.

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