Stop - taper time!
You might have heard or seen the term 'tapering' being used with increasing frequency (and an air of excitement) over the last few weeks as the marathon and half marathon training plans near their end. But what does it all mean?
Why we taper
Reason 1 - All that stress mentioned above? Everyone has a breaking point, and you want to try and avoid yours before the big day (and beyond!). Reducing your activities two to three weeks beforehand gives your body a bit of time to recover and repair any muscle damage, recharge with good sources of carbohydrates and stop feeling quite so much like bits of you have been replaced with sand bags.
Reason 2 - Training isn't just a physical energy drain; it can leave you mentally exhausted too. Whether it's the first event you've trained for or not, the last few months will have more than likely tested your resolve on a number of occasions and, quite honestly, it's time to be nice to yourself! Use your taper time to take stock, reflect on how blimmin' awesome you are and how far you've come, and visualise the end goal - the whole reason why you're doing this in the first place.
Things to be aware of
Tapering flu
Your body takes quite a hit during training, and as soon as you ease off you can find yourself succumbing to a lovely variety of coldy symptoms.
Overtraining
Covered in a previous blog, don't fall into the overtraining trap by running or exerting yourself more than you need to in the tapering phase. By continuing to run a few miles at a time, you're still making sure everything is still moving as it should and you won't lose any fitness or stamina in that time. By doing more than you need to, you'll only be wearing yourself out more and arriving at the start line tired, sore and a little bit worse for wear.
Over-indulging
Sorry guys - tapering isn't an excuse to start making poor nutrition choices! By all means eat when you're hungry but make sure it's the right kinds of things. This article on RunningStrong has some great examples of meals and snacks that will help curb the hunger pangs and ensure your glycogen levels are topped up well for race day.
Bring home the bling
Hopefully by the end of the taper period, you'll be energised, determined and #pumpedandpsyched! Use your free time to read through final instructions thoroughly, plan how you're going to get to the start line and visualise how epic you're going to feel crossing that finish line - you've got this!
In its basic form, tapering "refers to the practice of reducing exercise before an important competition". If you've been following one of Kingsway Runners' training plans over the last few months, you'll notice that the last two weeks before the big day involve quite a considerably shorter number of runs and distances than you've been building up to. This is your taper time - enjoy it! Up to this point, you've been putting your body through increasingly more stress each week and if you're anything like me, you're constantly tired and hungry, everything hurts and you can't quite remember what life was like before you decided to do nothing apart from run.
Why we taper
Reason 1 - All that stress mentioned above? Everyone has a breaking point, and you want to try and avoid yours before the big day (and beyond!). Reducing your activities two to three weeks beforehand gives your body a bit of time to recover and repair any muscle damage, recharge with good sources of carbohydrates and stop feeling quite so much like bits of you have been replaced with sand bags.
Reason 2 - Training isn't just a physical energy drain; it can leave you mentally exhausted too. Whether it's the first event you've trained for or not, the last few months will have more than likely tested your resolve on a number of occasions and, quite honestly, it's time to be nice to yourself! Use your taper time to take stock, reflect on how blimmin' awesome you are and how far you've come, and visualise the end goal - the whole reason why you're doing this in the first place.
Things to be aware of
Tapering flu
Your body takes quite a hit during training, and as soon as you ease off you can find yourself succumbing to a lovely variety of coldy symptoms.
Overtraining
Covered in a previous blog, don't fall into the overtraining trap by running or exerting yourself more than you need to in the tapering phase. By continuing to run a few miles at a time, you're still making sure everything is still moving as it should and you won't lose any fitness or stamina in that time. By doing more than you need to, you'll only be wearing yourself out more and arriving at the start line tired, sore and a little bit worse for wear.
Over-indulging
Sorry guys - tapering isn't an excuse to start making poor nutrition choices! By all means eat when you're hungry but make sure it's the right kinds of things. This article on RunningStrong has some great examples of meals and snacks that will help curb the hunger pangs and ensure your glycogen levels are topped up well for race day.
Bring home the bling
Hopefully by the end of the taper period, you'll be energised, determined and #pumpedandpsyched! Use your free time to read through final instructions thoroughly, plan how you're going to get to the start line and visualise how epic you're going to feel crossing that finish line - you've got this!
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