Thursday, September 25, 2014

Time To Taper

I'm honestly surprised how long it's taken me to tackle the marathon. When I knew nothing about how exhausting adulthood would be, at the ripe old age of 16, I promised myself I would complete the marathon by 26. I thought running 26.2 miles at 26 would be cool. Yes, cool. This was the sound reasoning behind electing this age as the latest possible year of my life to complete the marathon. Well, that didn't happen. I'll be 27 when I cross the finish line in Chicago, Illinois, if I cross the finish line in Chicago. I did, however, enter the lottery for the Chicago Marathon way back when I was 26. And a large chunk of my training happened during the final months of 26.

Alas, I've learned much through this process; it's been a time-consuming ride.

In March, I began supporting a new project. And with that came stress. And with that came a renewed interest in running. I set off without a plan. With a couple weeks of running under my belt, I signed up for a half marathon as a goal to work towards. I searched my archive of Runner's World magazines and settled on Ryan Hall's training plan. The Virginia Wine Country Half Marathon came and went in May. I was pleased with my performance and excited about the possibility of qualifying for the Boston Marathon in October. I spent first half of June reducing my mileage and prepping myself to begin a 16-week training plan during the third week of the month. I was ready to tackle the new couple months with gusto.

Then, you'll remember, I was sidelined with a nagging case of bursitis. I succumbed to physical therapy. I antagonized about how slowly my body was healing. I started to lose motivation. I started to worry my goal--to qualify for the iconic Boston Marathon--would slip away. I condensed my 16-week training plan to a 12-week, significantly more intense plan. The new plan required quality miles each  time I laced up with essentially no "junk" miles. And I altered my goal, to a more "normal" first marathon goal--finish. Just finish. Focus on finishing. Your time does not matter.

As far as the running goes, I have loved marathon training. I enjoy both the mental and physical aspect of running long miles. I've learned to break down 20-mile runs into manageable five-mile segments and mastered running long (and short) with (and without) music. I continue to work on warding off boredom. These runs can be so, so boring. I have had to create things to look forward to, whether eating or napping. If I think about how accomplished I'll feel when it's all over, I'm usually motivated to continue. Further, it's been a great excuse to spend time outdoors before gluing myself to a computer screen all day. And on the weekends, a great activity to begin the day. Plus, running has covered the 'hobby void' I've been attempted to fill for some time. 
If the running is not time consuming enough, there is significantly more time--and SO much thought--required to "prepare" for the marathon. While I have a plan, I must adapt the plan to the my reality. What day works best for a mid-week long run? As the sunrises later, when will I train? I have plans that will provide less sleep Monday night, can I squeeze in a track workout on Thursday instead? I'm out of town Thursday through Sunday, and therefore will not have access to my weights, when can I fit in strength training for the week?

Then there is eating, an awful lot of eating. I'm hungry ALL the time, not that I'm complaining. I need carbohydrates, fiber, and protein. But not too many carbohydrates or too much fiber. I've read (and read and read) how common weight gain is during marathon training, especially the first. While this hasn't been the case for me, I've been extremely cognizant of this. And have come to understand how easy bulking up could be, despite the remarkable number of calories burned. That being said, I don't allow myself to eat whenever I'm hungry--which again, is ALL the time, but I do eat significantly more than before. One more time: I'm not complaining. Seconds? Yes, please. The difference is most obvious when dining out; I no longer have leftovers. And at home, I opt for a cup of frozen pineapple as a pre-dinner snack. There are often times I'll go for seconds too. Like in the case of last night, when I consumed two multi-pound burritos and still needed dessert. On the days I'm so hungry I can't stand it, I have a mid-morning snack as well, often some sort of nut.

The food I eat is even more nutritious than before. I plan out breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day of the week--Sunday to Saturday. Before, I selected a few recipes for the week, allowing spontaneity and leftovers to fill the remaining gaps. Lest I sound too mighty, I eat way more "junk" calories than ever before; a bag of peanut butter M&Ms has nothing on me. Although I attempt to consume as many good calories as possible, I've had no problem eating a pound of Goldfish or Pop-Tarts for dinner the night before a run.

One might reckon that the toughest aspect of marathon-ing is, well, the tough elements of training: long runs, long tempo runs, and lifetime highs in terms of weekly mileage. But while I've found the running to be a formidable challenge, it hasn't been the most difficult piece of race day preparation. Sleep has. I try my very best to go to bed at 9:00 pm on the nights without an activity on the agenda, which leaves me about an hour to relax after dinner and dishes. On these nights, I often can't keep my eyes open until the sun goes down. (It's gotten easier as Fall has approached, wink.) Because of this, I've cleared the work week agenda quite a bit. I notice the largest discrepancies in my mood, run quality, and work productivity when I do not get a mandatory eight hours of sleep--a dangerous combination.

If you're not new here, you know sleep has not come as easily these past four years as it once did. So there have been sleepless nights, followed by rough days. And these days at points turned into week-long spans. And, this, for me, has had the largest impact on my training and me. Though I'm running this marathon for fun, I don't believe in living without giving my best. So it's been a balance of squeezing in a run over an event or friend or foregoing a run (or run(s)) for an important friend--on her wedding weekend. There have been times when it's possible to do both (e.g., Charleston)--on a little less sleep.

Aside from the pain in my left knee and mild pain in the arch of my right foot, which I'm icing daily, I feel at peace with my training (and, admittedly, a bit like a rock star). The bursitis flares up from time to time, though it's a million times better than it was in June and July. And the left hip pain I experienced as a side effect hasn't bothered me in a couple weeks, hooray. I definitely did not have the mental prowess to cover these miles before. Previously, at many points previously, in my running career, six miles seemed far (and tough). This distance now is easy; six miles is a day, like tomorrow, to look forward to.

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