Something I have no business doing -

Today I'm talking about tapering for a marathon. I haven't done this well in the past, and I have a habit of hurting myself in the taper phase. I think that's just bad luck. Or more accurately some kind of curse. It couldn't possibly be my own fault.

Anyway-

My plan this time incorporates elements from the training books of Daniels, Pfitzinger, a smear of Hudson, and and little slice of McMillan. In short, they all say about the same thing. Do a taper, don't freak out.

Of course the physiology of marathon training and the psychology that evolves from lead straight to freaking out when you start to run a lot less. My goal is to run less, and to well, not freak out. Currently I'm doing ok, strange periods of optimism punctuated with long bouts of uncertainty and anxiety. Normally these emotions would be quickly beaten out of me by a nice 16-20 mile run. Now they are in charge.

So - to the nitty gritty

I'm reducing volume whilst keeping an amount of intensity to keep things snappy and try to trick myself into thinking everything's normal. My race is 13 days from now, and my last 3 workouts will probably be as follows:

Tues 9/28 - 3 miles warm up/ 3 miles on track at 110% MP / 3 miles cool down
Sat 10/2 - 12 miles - last 2 at MP
Tues 10/5 - 3 miles warm up/ 1 mile on track at MP / 3 miles cool down

We'll see how it works.