Taper
It's been a funny old week.
After the proper elation of finishing the 22 miler, things have really taken a turn for the worse this week.
I'd been told that taper does funny things to your head. However, I really couldn't see how running less miles could be a problem.
Oh, how wrong I was.
I think I can pinpoint exactly where things went wrong. Instead of going to my usual conditioning and yoga class on Monday, I went to a gig - well, I was on holiday, it was Easter and it's what Jesus would have wanted.
I then started to relax. Bad move all round, really. A malaise set in far too quickly for my liking and the mid week runs that I did have planned, didn't happen. However I kept telling myself that it wasn't a problem. I had the Kilomathon on Sunday, James and I were going to run it to get used to running in crowds. It was quite important, given that: (1) I've only run either by myself or with James; (2) I'm not great with crowds; and (3) I hate people.
I woke up on the Sunday in pain. A lot of pain. My arthritis had flared badly for the first time in a very long time and as a result I didn't even make it to the start line.
Missing the race shouldn't have been a problem, I had already put in the miles that I needed to. However it made me spiral into a pretty low place.
It's quite a thing, when you're feeling that low, to motivate yourself to do anything. I realised then just how much I had become dependant on James to run with to get me round when things got tough.
Unfortunately, James had run the Kilomathon (and done very well I might add) but in doing so he had exacerbated his knee injury which he picked up on the 22 miler the week before. No running for him.
So it was down to me to suck it up and get out there. I'm not going to lie, the 3 runs this week were very hard. Some of the hardest I've done in all of the training and also some of the shortest. Just proves that distance doesn't always equate to difficulty.
The last run was 40 minutes and for the first time in ages, I ran listening to an audiobook and it felt good...when I finished.
It's now less than 10 days to the actual marathon and I've decided that I need to stop putting so much pressure on myself. Also, if I don't manage to get runs in, it's no big deal...honest.
Gx
After the proper elation of finishing the 22 miler, things have really taken a turn for the worse this week.
I'd been told that taper does funny things to your head. However, I really couldn't see how running less miles could be a problem.
Oh, how wrong I was.
I think I can pinpoint exactly where things went wrong. Instead of going to my usual conditioning and yoga class on Monday, I went to a gig - well, I was on holiday, it was Easter and it's what Jesus would have wanted.
I then started to relax. Bad move all round, really. A malaise set in far too quickly for my liking and the mid week runs that I did have planned, didn't happen. However I kept telling myself that it wasn't a problem. I had the Kilomathon on Sunday, James and I were going to run it to get used to running in crowds. It was quite important, given that: (1) I've only run either by myself or with James; (2) I'm not great with crowds; and (3) I hate people.
I woke up on the Sunday in pain. A lot of pain. My arthritis had flared badly for the first time in a very long time and as a result I didn't even make it to the start line.
Missing the race shouldn't have been a problem, I had already put in the miles that I needed to. However it made me spiral into a pretty low place.
It's quite a thing, when you're feeling that low, to motivate yourself to do anything. I realised then just how much I had become dependant on James to run with to get me round when things got tough.
Unfortunately, James had run the Kilomathon (and done very well I might add) but in doing so he had exacerbated his knee injury which he picked up on the 22 miler the week before. No running for him.
So it was down to me to suck it up and get out there. I'm not going to lie, the 3 runs this week were very hard. Some of the hardest I've done in all of the training and also some of the shortest. Just proves that distance doesn't always equate to difficulty.
The last run was 40 minutes and for the first time in ages, I ran listening to an audiobook and it felt good...when I finished.
It's now less than 10 days to the actual marathon and I've decided that I need to stop putting so much pressure on myself. Also, if I don't manage to get runs in, it's no big deal...honest.
Gx
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