The taper blues suck!

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saypay45

Chapter Presidents
May 24, 2010
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#1
I'm tapering for Grandma's Marathon next week. My back hurts. My legs hurt. My feet hurt. My dogs don't run fast enough when I run with them. Then they run too fast. My jogging stroller is ridiculously heavy lately. It's hot. It sucks to even run a 5 mile training run. And I can't believe I paid $200 a night for a stinking hotel in Duluth for this race! It's Duluth!

I know it's just another batch of the taper blues. Anyone have any good advice for getting through it?
 
#2
Oh the dreaded taper blues, 

Oh the dreaded taper blues, I can relate! Seems like the taper effects everyone the same. It's amazing what the taper can do to you mentally, I remember feeling strange injuries coming on, different aches and pains and what not. I remember struggling through a 3 mile run during taper week and thinking how the heck can I run 26.2 miles if I can barely get through 3! lol!



My advice is just try to relax, try to find a half hour of quiet time for yourself at night and do some deep breathing exercises and just clear your mind, this helps.

You completed your training! Congratulations! Honestly the training is worse than a marathon. Running the marathon is the easy part. You are more than ready for the race and just take advantage of this downtime right now. Keep your body well hydrated throughout the day.



Good luck on the race!
 
#3
Well the good news is you

Well the good news is you only have another week to go. I usually figure out other ways to blow off steam. My chain saw and wood splitter get extra work in the weeks when tapering for a longer race. I will remind you of the "It's hot" statement in a few months. Don't you guys usually get snow before Halloween? I know what you mean about prices you have to pay sometimes for lodging. I had to pay around $200 for a Comfort Suites in Marquette last August that I signed up for last minute for a 50K and it would be a stretch to give it a 3 star rating. Good luck with the taper and the race.
 
#4
I was up at the cabin (it's a

I was up at the cabin (it's a Minnesota thing) at the beginning of May and we had snow then. We have snow as early as September. But in the summer time, although it's not always in the 80s and 90s, we get some crappy humidity.

In general, the weather here just sucks.

Thanks for the tips! I do need to do something other than run to keep the motivation up.
 
#5
Oh, I CAN RELATE.... I really

Oh, I CAN RELATE.... I really go "stir-crazy"



Practice taking deep breaths, seriously...



I like to watch a good running movie: Chariots of Fire, Prefontaine, Without Limits, etc.



Find some good music: Barfus Blues, ;o), The Barefoot Song = two of my favorite..



DANCE!!!



Play with your children or someone else's children (ask first ;o)...



I hope this helps....
 
#6
I wish you well at Grandma's

I wish you well at Grandma's Marathon...

Duluth is a beautiful city!

Are you going BR or Minimalist?????????



I think they have summer on Saturday, so be prepared, eh!?!?!



;o)
 
#7
No kidding about the summer

No kidding about the summer thing. One of my friends dropped out of the marathon last year because of the heat. I've been running long runs during the middle of the day just in case.

Not much of a dancer. I'm tall and lanky, so I look like one of these when I dance:

twin_arrow_wind_dancers.jpg




Not sure why they have arrows for pants...
 
#9
I also booked a hotel room in

I also booked a hotel room in Carlton (about 20 minutes from Duluth) for Thursday. $50 for a suite. The prices are so insane that I likely will not be doing Grandma's again.
 
#10
I think they can only get

I think they can only get people to come to Duluth, MN in the summer...

The winter is quite brutal = cold and windy... and they don't even get much snow to enjoy...

I'm guessing they have HIGH summer rates for a reason... ;o)

[we, thankfully, stayed with family while in Duluth... they moved... June marathon in Duluth in the future = not likely...]



that said, it's a great event!



I like the fact (at least when we ran it) that you get your FINISHER T-SHIRT at the END OF THE RACE... Only get the shirt if you finish da sucka!!!!



Rock on and Love it!
 
#11
haha, I think it's funny when

haha, I think it's funny when people say the LOVE Duluth (I went to school there, lived there for 4yrs) and I just say..."yeah, but have you ever been there during the winter?"

Summers rock up there though, so it sort of balanced out the brutality of the winters.
 
#12
 On race morning you will

On race morning you will forget about all the taper weirdness, I like to do extra walking or maybe some easy swimming in place of running.

It always amazes me how 3 days off can change my body feel, maybe endorphins wear off after 3 - 4 days and we lose some natural pain killer effect.

Only been to Minnesota once, it was in the Army for winter training...instead of snow it was rain and wind for a whole week, right at 32 - 34F. Oh and I had just left a dry near sub-zero Colorado at the time...it felt colder in Minnesota still.
 
#13
We Minnesotans need our

We Minnesotans need our crappy weather. Otherwise we'd have nothing to complain about.

I've actually been doing a little more biking, which I'm really enjoying just to take my mind off running the race.

I am finishing that dang thing if I have to crawl over the finish line. If I can't crawl, then I'm getting a stretcher and having the medics carry me across. I want that shirt!
 
#15
+1 AbideHang in there SP,

+1 Abide

Hang in there SP, you're going to rock this thing!
 
#16
I agree with Adam.  Self

I agree with Adam. Self meditation always does the trick for me. Quiet time with some inward focusing calms the spirit down. I also do this pre-race to calm the nerves. Find a little spot out of the way and just chill and ignore all that is taking place around you.

Or crack open a bottle and start drinking.



Embrace the taper and take care of all the niggles your body is experiencing.
 
#18
Just wanted to let you guys

Just wanted to let you guys know that the aches and pains are gone, and the legs are feeling lean and mean! I'm heading up to Duluth today for Grandma's on Saturday! Thanks for all of your advice and support.

I'm nervous because this is my first marathon in VFFs (I don't race barefoot because I push the pace and kill my feet). My goal is just to finish, no time in mind.

Maybe RR blog entry to follow. Although blogging seems kind of like interweb crack...
 
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