Taper Madness

Ah, the taper.

It's gone relatively well for me this time. No more worries about getting cramps or a period (or at least I *think* I'm done with that), nobody in my immediate family is ill, it doesn't look like Chicago is going to get snow anytime soon to jeopardize travel, and I feel pretty much ready to go.

Of course, I did have a semi-crappy run today, I can feel all sorts of little aches and pains that I am concerned will turn into big problems, and why is it that I feel fat or at least that I've gained weight, even when I step on the scale and the number hasn't budged? Have I lost muscle mass and put on fat weight? How could that be possible when I've been doing my typical early season strength training build? When I've been running a lot but not eating a lot? When I was even good over the holidays and didn't indulge hardly at all? It's funny, yet predictable, that I will feel this way during a taper. I can't remember a single one where I felt like I was incredibly lean and depleted. Maybe it's a psychological thing to not feel depleted, since I shouldn't be, when I'm resting my body and letting it load up on glycogen. It makes me laugh.

Another thing I notice during a taper is that food doesn't taste the same. Heck, when I'm training 15+ hours a week, ANY food tastes great! It could be braised cardboard, but if I ate it after a 2+ hour workout, it would be awesome (with a little salt, of course). My taste buds seem to take a hiatus when I'm tapering. Yet my brain will always kick in the night or two before a big race to ensure that I gobble down plenty of carbs, even while I am not that interested in them!

I've been sleeping like it's going out of style. Why get up in the morning while it's dark outside? Oh yeah, to swim. Haven't been doing much of that lately. I had big plans to swim a lot more, but with all the running, I just haven't been motivated to squeeze it in. Well after this Goofy thing, it will be time for me to get my swim on. Back to measly 1:30 "long" runs on Sundays, leaving me plenty o' time to fit in a 4th swim. And the days are getting longer, too, so before we know it, it will actually be light by 6AM!

At this point, I am left to obsess about the weather. Orlando weather is going to be much warmer this time around than it was last year. It could mean I throw my Sunday goal out the window. We shall see. On the plus side, we start at 6AM, so how warm can it be by 10AM, when I expect to be done? I must say, though, it will be nice to run in shorts. I may even get a bit of a tan!

So there you have it--the usual taper including feeling fat, food doesn't taste that great, things hurt all over at times, I'm not yet very excited about this (the marathon is going to be WORK this time--not fun like last year, although it still was some work) and the weather is not cooperating.

But the work is done, the money is in the bank--now it's time to collect a little interest.