I've read and heard from many triathletes and runners about how they go crazy during taper; the sudden drop in activity and being forced to do so much less leaves them figuratively twiddling their thumbs in anticipation of the race. I figured this wouldn't be a problem for me; there's lots I've been meaning to get to, and taking the time I would have put into a workout to devote to those other tasks would be great. It didn't work out that way unfortunately; I think some of those athletes were talking about a much greater volume of training being done for a longer period, and the truth is, I found myself in a funk that bordered on depression toward the end of the week before last.
 |
| Chart showing all activity for 2013: Doesn't look like much of a taper.... |
 |
| Chart showing Running Activity only. Weekly results may be skewed based on whether the long run took place on a Saturday or Sunday. |
I had very little energy or motivation to do anything; train, blog, work, play with the kids everything felt "too hard, why bother". I had a few above-average sleeps, by our family's yardstick (that still means getting up 2-3 times a night) and I still felt tired and listless most of the day. I can at least claim that I still got a few treadmill runs in, but they weren't spectacular and they were less than *prescribed*.
- Sunday: 7km run (instead of 8km)
- Tuesday: 8km on the treadmill. I played around with video recording my stride as best as I could with this run, and I even switched shoes. That broke up the boredom and fatigue a little.
- Thursday: 5km on the treadmill (instead of 5.6km).
- Friday: I started to feel a little more like myself on Thursday night, so I was willing to put in a little more effort... just not necessarily on the treadmill as much. I completed a spinning class, and turned into a brick by doing my 2 mile tempo work on the treadmill right after. No extra warm-up or cool-down mileage though.
- Sunday: Nearly 8km of cross-country skiing. Pulling the kids in the Chariot as usual, conditions gave us some alternately sticky and slippery snow, but at least it was fresh and mild. A really pleasant day to mark the end of my funk.
Overall this week, I'm pleased with the fact that I got all my runs in - which is to say I ran as many times as I was supposed to, even if I didn't to them to the prescribed length (or prescribed procedure). Let's not even mention cross-training; there might have been a few extra planks here or there.
Next week it's even less volume, which means I can focus on preparing logistical details for the race...
Have you ever suffered from Taper Blues?
Labels: cross-country skiing, motivation, running, training
