Intensity

Tapering for a marathon is a weird thing. After running the highest mileage week in training you start to back off of the mileage to “rest” for the marathon. In the past when I tapered I would not only run less miles but I would run them slow and easy. It made me feel lethargic during the two weeks before the marathon. I would show up to the starting line of the marathon jittery and wanting to run but I also felt lazy.

I don’t know who wrote this but a about a year ago I read that it was important to keep up the intensity during the taper even though the mileage decreases. So for the last couple of weeks I have been trying to run harder during these runs that are progressively shorter.

This morning I ran three miles. Rather than the normal taper feeling of being slow and fat I felt strong and light. My form felt good and I ran three miles in the 7 minute per mile range. I was listening to loud music and running hard and it felt good.

For me it shows how important it is to always challenge myself in some way. I challenged myself with distance for the last 16 weeks. Now I just changed the challenge from distance to intensity. Rest is good and important but when rest borders on laziness it is almost always a bad thing.

I am boarding a plane tomorrow for the cooler climates of New Zealand. Marathon day weather is predicted to be cloudy with a low temperature of 40 F and a high temperature of 53 F. - Perfect weather for running a marathon.

Run hard …