Marathon tapering

8 more days until my qualifying marathon.

*

I've been reading about tapering on various web-sites, but haven't found a scheme I can fully embrace.

I buy the idea of not going into the marathon with tired legs. I want to be fresh, rested, and ready to go.

But much of my workday, realistically, is spent sitting down. After doing little physical activity all day, I crave physical work. I want to do some running. However, I should be tapering - I should be running less.

Yesterday, after sitting through a whole day of presentations (of which mine was one), I went out to the track and did three easy miles.

It was a sunny early evening, and it felt great to be running laps on the track in shorts and a t-shirt.

It was also interesting to see what pace felt easy. At what felt like an easy pace, I ran miles of 7:28, 7:33, and 7:44. The fade isn't as bad as it looks, because the last mile I had to stop for a bit to get a bug out of my eye.

So for the marathon, I want to go out slow for the first 10K (as mentioned in my last post). From experience I know that the first mile of a road race goes much faster than planned, so I'll have to plan to take it easy there. Hopefully, I can then settle into a comfortable, steady pace. If I have lots left in the tank at 20, perhaps I can switch gears.

*

I will do a 10 mile or so run tomorrow, and this will be my last long-ish run before the race.