Gettysburg Marathon Training : Taper On

After an up and down training cycle, I finally made it to the taper!  Most runners seem to hate this time and call it the taper crazies, but I love it!  After beating up my body for months, I can finally back off and go back to having a somewhat normal life.  It's amazing!  This week was a lower mileage week an my boy absolutely loved it.  It's hard to believe that race day is less than two weeks away, but I'm finally starting to get some confidence back.

Here's a look at my week of training!


Monday

Rest Day


Tuesday

3.6 miles / 9:00 pace
It was a wet, rainy day that only seemed to clear up while I was out running.  I could feel the rain about to start the entire time I was out, so that helped me keep up the pace on this run!  It was pouring by the time I got changed and walked across the street to work, so I finished just in time.


Wednesday

5 miles / 8:59 pace
I was supposed to do a hill workout, but my body just wasn't having it.  We had a crazy hot day (up in the 80s) and the park was completely packed, so I just tried for a fast-ish run.  I felt like I was sprinting the entire time and this run exhausted me!  I hope that my race isn't too warm because I am NOT in shape for that or acclimated to the heat yet!


Thursday

Rest Day!


Friday

4 miles / untimed
It's hard to believe that I was in shorts and a t-shirt the last time I ran, because it was SNOWING all day!  I had to pull out my winter running gear and went out for an easy 4 miler.  I felt like I was running through mud and my legs felt so tired this entire run.  


Saturday

Yoga / 30 min
I decided to take an extra rest day and do some light yoga instead.  I've been avoiding doing yoga because I'm so scared of re-injuring my arm this close to the race, but I enjoyed this stretchy yoga flow.  I felt amazing afterwards and was really happy with my decision to rest up instead of pushing myself too much.


Sunday

11 miles / 9:15 pace
This was my last double digit run of my training, and I was just hoping for a decent run to give me a little confidence before my race.  What ended up happening was that I had one of the best runs of the year!  I felt so great the entire time, and was able to hit marathon race pace for the final 6 miles of my run with absolutely no problem.  I tested out what I'm going to be eating, wearing, and using for fuel and everything worked out so well.  Plus- this was another warm day and I felt great the entire time!  


How was your week?
Do you like to do race dress-rehearsals?
Who's running Boston??


linking up with Holly from HoHo Runs , Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin , Courtney at Eat Pray Run DC and Steff from Run Steff Run!

Comments

  1. I enjoy taper too! It feels like so many extra pockets of time automatically opened up. That's a really pretty scene for your Wednesday's run. Good luck!

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  2. HAVE SO MUCH FUN WITH TAPER! tappper dannnnnce

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  3. My 12 miles on Saturday went great - and I was glad. I felt like I needed a little confidence boost too. I sort of wish I didn't have one more week of training, I'm ready to race & be done, give myself some extra time in my life in general with this wedding nonsense. Though, I can't just go cold turkey on working out. I'd be a grumpy B&^$%.

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  4. Glad you had a good week and are getting your confidence back! This is such an exciting time, enjoy it!

    I'm with you, I love taper. The decrease in mileage is so nice, but once I get some energy back I really have to be careful about my paces because otherwise I start flying through my runs! I never get antsy because I trust in the process of taper and I enjoy the time to reflect on all the hard work I put in. Remember, the training is the marathon, the race is just the victory lap! :-)

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  5. You know me! I don't like tapering and I don't like taking any time off for recovery and so that's why I don't really race that often. You're going to do great, Gretchy! I'm glad your shoulder issues worked themselves out!

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  6. I'm with you. I love the taper although it can play tricks with my mind. I like to do dress rehearsals every time I go out for a long run I usually race a couple half marathons as part of my marathon build up and that helps a lot. Best of luck in the coming weeks! You've put in the work now it's time to enjoy the race :)

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  7. I just love the taper so much. It's like the best gift you can give yourself!

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  8. Sounds like a great week! Enjoy your taper! I didn't mind the taper and loved the lower mileage and rest days too. :)

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  9. Hanson's does the taper differently than most plans - you do your last workout 10 days before the race, but still run almost every day (just easy). I LOVE it! Enjoy your taper!!

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