Taper Tension

Like many people at this time of year, I'm in a taper week ahead of a big race.  For me it's the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon.
Some people (like Danny Fisher) hardly taper, but normally these are seasoned runners with high mileage weeks being the norm in their life.  My experience leads me to taper quite a lot, this week I'll run about 50% of a normal week.  That sounds great "just run a lot less than you usually do" but actually it's hard.
In training, I feel in control - I set objectives which I either meet or fail to meet, this guides me and gives me feedback on how my body is adapting.  This close to the race, there's no more adapting going to happen - the "money is in the bank" and this loss of control, no more chance to influence the outcome, is what plays on my mind.

Beet, Carrot & Apple... Quaff ON!

Doing less work, means watching the diet more closely to avoid last minute weight gain, but it also means eating the right foods to ensure muscles and metabolism are recovered & fully charged for the hard race effort ahead.  I'm a big believer in raw vegetables and this week I'm drinking a lot of beetroot, carrot & apple juice made fresh with a juicer.  Beetroot has a scientifically proven benefit for endurance sport performance, helping the body transport oxygen to the muscles more efficiently.  The rest of the diet needs to ensure enough protein and vitamins to help recover strength as my body rests as well as the carbohydrates needed to charge up the muscles ready for work.

Taper doesn't mean no work, it's important to keep some intensity so I went to Track Tuesday and completed a short, but fast pre-race workout just as we did before the Hoosier Half a couple of weeks ago.  I've got a short run planned today where I'll hit target race pace for 1/2 - 3/4 mile just to remember what it feels like.
Normally Friday would be a complete rest day, but it's the Good Friday holiday here and the one day in the year when I don't have to go to work but the kids have to go to school!  I'm making the most of this and riding with a friend to Bloomington where we'll meet our wives for brunch at Farm, before driving home again.  An easy 50 mile spin on the bike will loosen up my legs without adding significant fatigue and I'll recover with some good food and an early night.