The Taper....So we ran 11 miles, or just under, today for our long run of the week - a good 7 miles less than our average long run for the past three months - a good 12 miles less than our two longest runs of the training year.
It's always funny to me when I taper. It's as though I expect for everything in my body to say, "Yes! I feel amazing - how can running get any better." And although that is of course how I'm going to feel in a week and a few days as I run the Boston marathon, today I feel as I usually do when I intentionally taper... kind of crappy.
I've come to the conclusion that one of the worst things that has ever happened to me in running is when my mind tries to anticipate how I'm going to feel in races - especially when I think I should feel good. Sometimes when I feel terrible I go out and run the race of my life. Just when my body says, "Don't even run today you fool, it's not worth it," is when everything falls into place. Sometimes I feel terrible and run like it.
In short, the lesson I'm trying to teach myself is that no matter how I feel or think I feel, the race itself is the only true indicator of my ability on that day. Positive self-talk seems to be the key to my problem. Positive self-talk - not tell myself I'm the king of the world and I'm always feel good bull crap you might be thinking of right now. No, positive self-talk simply acknowledges that negative self-talk is going on and addresses it in a positive manner. For instance, "Oh crap, it's raining and I always run bad in the rain." Instead of replying something foolish like, "Sweet rain," you can say something intelligent like "maybe I've run bad in the rain previously but today is a new story" (or a variation of that).
More posts are necessary on this topic but for now all I wish to say is this - while listening to your body can be bad (referencing Bryan's earlier post - click here), listening in to the self-talk going on inside your mind is always a good idea because you HAVE to respond to it. I'll end this post with an example from the run this morning.
"This 11 mile run should feel much easier... are you sure you are ready for Boston," is what my mind said. Instead of ignoring this thought I said verbally out loud to the group, "well my bodies at it again thinking that just because I'm tapering everything's going to feel awesome." And then to myself in my mind I added, "My body is just storing up energy for the long Boston race ahead," or in the words of my friend Butze, watch out Boston because "I'm going long, hard, and I'm hear to get the friction on!"
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