Remember the Work

It has been a long week.

I am coming up on my 9th marathon and tapering is still the hardest part of training for me.

It is not the 20 mile runs, not the two-a-days,  nor the tempo runs in humidity. Its the week of  tapering. The week where you have to relax because you have done the work and you need to let your body prepare for what you are about to do to it (run 26.2 miles). 

This week is filled with anxiety for me. Have I done enough? Am I resting too much? Maybe I should squeeze in a hard workout so I don't lose my fitness. 

 Tapering is simply backing off the volume and intensity of training and resting your body so you can benefit from the hard work. It is necessary if you want to run your best on race day. You are not going to run your best when you are exhausted. You have to let your body respond to the work. 

I know this but I am anxious. I am ready to go fast. I am ready to go try to tackle that 3:15 that I have been gunning for. I can't change anything now. I cannot control the weather and the past few months, I can only give my all on Sunday and leave it all on the course. 

For all my fellow runners running the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday and all my friends getting ready to start tapering for Richmond and New York- remember we have done the work, we have trained in the heat, we have ran through pain, we got this!

Ready, set, oorah!

Hill City Harriers Don't let the Heat stop them



For anyone that wants to track me or anyone they know running the 2017 Marine Corps Marathon this Sunday, follow this link--Runner Tracking MCM



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