Thursday, February 21, 2013

Coping well with my taper

 
Oh no! I'm done with my race training and I have to rest now! That is so awful! Instead of running outside in 20° temperatures, I am forced to stay in my warm house and drink coffee.

It's hard to believe that anyone would view tapering that way. According to a survey that I saw on Runner's World, there are percentage of people who hate the taper's rest period. To quote someone from a recent runner's forum, "[It's] biochemical, like withdrawal from an addiction." 

Hey, I like running. I'd better like it because I do it almost every day. But the opportunity to have a couple of guilt-free rest days is a gift, not a burden.  I'm going into the city later today for a couple of meetings and I'll probably cover 3 or 4 miles by foot in the process. While I am taking a rest from running, I don't plan to stop moving. Some good relaxing walks will be the perfect penultimate tapering activity. Tomorrow I can truly rest. You can bet I'll enjoy that coffee.

2 comments:

  1. I haven't run since Sunday and I don't plan on running for a few more days because of some foot soreness which I don't want to turn into an actual injury, and I'm just dying to get out and run again. Its amazing how addictive the activity can become, and I also suspect that we have some underlying fears and insecurities which push us to keep going lest we never return.

    Good luck in Long Beach. Hopefully, the weekend storm heads out to sea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Resting has its pros and cons. I suppose you could do some upper body workouts, but it's never the same as a good run.

      I understand the fear of not returning after a break. I used to worry about that but, honestly, after you've been running a few months, the habit should be there for good.

      Fingers crossed for a dry morning!

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