If you've ever seen the musical "Reefer Madness," the title song sounds a little bit like something you'd hear in a haunted house, with its "Reeeeeeeeffffferrrrrrrrrr Maaaaadnessss"... I keep singing that to myself, but it's "Taaaaaperrrrr Maaaadnesssss" instead. It's pretty accurate for how I'm feeling right now.
Steamtown is less than two weeks away. I countered my schedule just a little and did a 20 miler on Sunday (as opposed to the 16 I was supposed to do) for the psychological benefit of having four 20 mile training runs this time around. It hasn't made me any less nervous. Now, I'm freaking out that I haven't trained enough hills to deal with almost 13 miles of downhill at Steamtown. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that running downhill would be my biggest concern--although, now that I think of it, I was also terrified of downhill when I dealt with ITBS last year. Ironic. And there's another song to play over and over in my head.
When I ran my first marathon back in March, the taper mileage was MUCH lower than what it is this time around. I constantly cramped up and diagnosed myself with piroformis, sciatica, a pulled hamstring--you name it, I had it. And I got sick--although that was me being legitimately sick, and I got it from a friend. Sucky timing, though, and I had made it through the entire winter without getting sick until that point. My every thought was consumed with the race, too. The night before, I took Benadryl to help me sleep. Then when I still couldn't sleep, I took another. I found out at Mile 22 of the marathon that Benadryl works by drying you up. Yep, I hit the wall hard when dehydration set in. I've never given birth, but I have a feeling those cramps rivaled labor pains.
This time around, I'm trying to chill out a bit. Part of the reason (other than staying sane) is that I've run my best races this year when I tell myself I'm just going to enjoy the run. That's how I PR'ed my 5K (by 2 minutes) and my half (by 23 freaking minutes!!). I'll keep trying to tell myself that getting in under 4 hours shouldn't be a problem, and shoot for that. Maybe I'll pull off a 3:45 that way :)
Like I said, the mileage is higher this time around, too: last time, I had 3 and 4 mile runs in the two or three weeks before the race. This time, I had a 5 on Tuesday, 7 today (with some speedwork), 8 tomorrow, and 12 Sunday, though I keep thinking of only doing 10 on Sunday. Next week, I'm supposed to have a 6, a 7 (with 2 @ marathon pace), a 5 (with speedwork), and a 4. The 4 is supposed to come the day before the race, and I'm 98% sure I won't be doing that one. I need that day to relax and prepare. Maybe do some easy yoga in the morning. Any thoughts on running the day before a marathon?
I supposed I'm lucky that so far--knock on wood--the only taper craziness I've been experiencing this time around is some anxiety. My plan is to take St. John's Wort the night before the race this time. It'll help my mind from going a mile a minute so I can hopefully sleep without winding up groggy or dehydrated. Any other input as to how to sleep the night before the race would be greatly appreciated. I'll check back next week when I'm getting really nutty! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment