Sunday 21 February 2016

Tapering


I've now completed my training for Huddersfield, short though it was. With one week to go, I've started "tapering". This is something usually done before a competition or race, to varying degrees depending on the distance. Usually a marathon warrants 3 weeks taper, half marathon 2 weeks and 5-10k is 5-7 days. Tapering is where a runner still runs in the week(s) before a race, but starts reducing distance and pace and increasing rests. This conserves their energy, while still keeping them active.

For example, tomorrow (Monday) I will run for 30 minutes at an easy pace, Wednesday I will run for 20 minutes at an easy pace and Friday for only 10 minutes. This is completely out of step with my usual running days (Tues, Thurs, Sat), but totally in sync with my 'couch to 2k' training with Niamh, which I will continue to do.

My training has been good - I've not injured myself (hooray) and I've proved to myself that I can do the hills over that distance. More than that, I've proved to myself that I can do the hills with a reasonable ability - I've seen myself get better at them and had great encouragement from my running buddies to affirm that. In the race I obviously hope to avoid taking a rest at the top of conquered hills, relying on adrenaline to keep me moving.

In my training, I've run longer distances (11-12km, sometimes 13km) and climbed higher hills (well over 300m in one particular run and some pretty steep gradients), so I now know that I can cope with the race. Even though I don't know what to expect from the course terrain, I'm as prepared as I can be and feel good for having made the effort.

So here's hoping for a sub-60 minute finish time. But even if I don't get that, I will still complete it. And that will be an achievement in itself.

Today some of my fellow Greyhounds ran the Blackpool Half Marathon. Weather conditions made that a brutal race. But they persevered and they conquered. Whether they felt great or felt lousy and however they perceive their finish times. They all got to the end. They all ran. That's such a success - I'm very proud of them and they set me a great example!

1 comment:

  1. Today we send you off over the hills.... We will be waiting for you at the finish line! Best wishes for a great run, Matt. HORIZONS TEAM

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