Race Week

The OC Half Marathon is 6 days away which means it is Taper Week.

Since I am not running this race like a “race”, but rather just trying to keep myself in shape with high mileage for a full mary in the distant future I’m not too concerned with serious taper. But, I am planning on scaling back running a bit to rest up!

The Plan:

Monday – 6 miles. Done 🙂

Tuesday – Hills – 4 hills with warm up and cool down a few miles

Wednesday – 5 miles

Thursday – 4 miles

Friday – Running Rest/Walk and 30 Day Shred or yoga

Saturday – Running Rest/Long Walk, stretching, maybe yoga

Sunday – 13.1 miles!!!!!!!!

My thoughts on tapering – Resting and tapering seems like the exact opposite of what you should be doing right before you run a long distance, but it’s exactly what your body needs. It is better to be over rested than over trained! My experience has shown me that I feel best on race day if I’ve rested up.

This is very frustrating if, like me, you want to lose weight. You are running to burn calories and letting days pass without running seems like a wasted opportunity. But, if you have signed up and trained for a race you are pushing your body to new levels of fitness and that should be your focus for right now. You have plenty of days to run, but only one chance to rock this race.

Rest, taper and run your little heart out on race day!

Breakfast: After a great 6 miles to start the day I had oatmeal w/ raisins & AB and blackberries: dscn8174