Thursday Already? Time to Taper.

Tapering for the Half Marathon

What would be worse than having to go to work on a beautiful day like this and not be able to run? I've got it! Being home with the time to run, but not being able to because you are resting your legs for an upcoming race. Yikes, have I ever been this serious about anything before? Maybe on my wedding day or during my first full physical with my new Doctor.

What does it mean to Taper? Well, in the articles that I have read (lots), it has been established that after prolonged training your muscles get used to the stress of training and the rebuilding process during short periods of rest. For most of us doing long distance training, that means the Monday or Friday that we occasionally take off in addition to whatever amount of sleep we may get during the week. In short, your muscles work like crazy with whatever rest they can get. Your body uses this time to rebuild and strengthen connective tissue as well as replenish glycogen stores. So when you all of a sudden decide to take four or five days off in a row, your body is still in high gear doing its repair job. This turns out good for us because we want to be at 100% or as close to it as we can get by race day.

So, if you are tapering or resting or slacking, just remember that even though you are itching to run ("oooh, I'll just do 4 or 6km....that won't hurt anything, I need to loosen up") your body will thank you in the long run (no pun intended).