Taper Week: Wine & Roses Half Marathon

Well, it's that time again! TAPER WEEK AGGHH! Also known as the taper crazies.

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It's two days 'till my half marathon and it's the week where I cut back on all of my training, stretch a bit, foam roll, and come up with an excuse to eat more carbs than normal. Taper week makes me feel antsy, like I have plenty of energy and no place to go. It also makes me feel unnecessarily lazy.

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Tapering IS incredibly important, and I respect the heck out of that, but it also brings me back to when I was a kid and I was grounded from riding my bike or playing outside. My stress relief has been temporarily taken away and I am patiently waiting to feel great and fast and race ready but worrying when that will start to happen.

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A Few Tidbits About Tapering:

What is tapering? 

Tapering is when you cut back on your mileage/training for a designated time period before a big race or competition. This helps your muscles heal up and gets your body ready for peak performance.

What happens during taper time? 

The only thing to continue doing, at least for me, is to continue stretching and get mentally prepared. Even though I can get cranky and moody while tapering, I do it because deep down inside I know how important it is to rest up, even though I would rather be out at the park or track.

How long do you taper? 

For a half marathon my taper times always differ. If I've been training on the higher side of my mileage, I'll add in a few shorter runs during taper week, but nothing too strenuous. This time, since my mileage is not at its highest and I just ran a 10k at high elevation, I am taking a few days longer to taper. I never have a set amount of taper days, and prefer to live in the moment with each race and take each day as it comes.

Won't you lose the strength you have been working to build up?

I used to worry about losing that physical edge, but that's just part of what I always think about during the taper crazy days, and it really never happens. The best thing I can try to do is to ignore those thoughts and try to replace them with positive ones, such as how happy I will be on race day and how lucky I am that I get to do this. It might sound simplistic, but working to get your mental game strong is just as important.


Two more days to taper and two more sleeps, I can't wait! And to all of you out there tapering as well, stay strong my friends, it's almost race day!

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How do you keep the crazies away while you're tapering?