Taper Time!!!!

    With the Columbus Marathon being now 4 weeks away I have started to taper.  I do my taper different than most people. At five weeks out I will start a 2 week taper.  I cut back almost to no running or very little running at all then I will use my next 2 weeks of doing medium range runs with one more long run thrown in. My last week is mostly short runs with a lot of cross training and stretching.  This may not be normal way to most people, but this is what I have come accustomed to and I feel it works best for me.  The only hard part is the 2 weeks in which I do very little running.  My mind says get out and run Shaun but I know I have to give my body some rest.  I am very cranky these 2 weeks.

So this is how training went this week.

MONDAY:  Since I was just coming off of a half marathon, I decided to rest this day.  Normally a long run has very little effect on me the following day, but I had not ran as fast as I did last Sunday in my half for a while.  Needless to say I was a little sore, but for the most part felt really good for having just ran a half marathon.

TUESDAY: I did a short 4 mile run at 8:30 pace.  I felt really good and my body showed no signs of fatigue from the half on Sunday.

WEDNESDAY: I had Pirate tickets so this was also a rest day.  This is where the cranky comes out.  I was happy to be going to the Pirate game, but I feel like I should of some how figured out a way to run even though I am tapering.  I need to work on telling myself it's okay not to run during the taper weeks.

THURSDAY: I ran 7 miles at 8:20 pace. When I returned home I did an arm and Ab workout.  Overall felt really good for the day.

FRIDAY: After work I went to Dave N' Busters to pick up my race packet for the Gladiator Run I was doing on Saturday.  I also was going out to dinner that night so this was another rest day. 

SATURDAY:  GLADIATOR RUN- I ran my first obstacle race ever.  It was a 5K with 17 obstacles. I ran it with my friend Tom @tmcjr412 who has already ran the tough mudder. It was good because he was able to tell me what to expect.  It was a great experience and I had a blast. I will be writing a recap of the race later this week.     Let me just say a 5K with obstacles is hard and I know this did nothing but benefit my training. I used muscles I never knew I had.  

SUNDAY:  Today I will be doing a cross training day.  I plan on doing a mix of workouts to work out a few body parts. It will be hard since I am very sore from yesterday.

Next week I plan on doing a few more runs in the week.  Nothing to crazy or high until Saturday when I take on the Battle Frog Race.  A 15K obstacle race.  I was nervous at first, but now I am actually excited and looking forward to doing it.  

Until next time friends, run strong!!!!