Taper: no, not the thin candle but a strategy to conserve energy for the big day. That’s what the plan is for the final three weeks leading up to the London Marathon on Sunday 25 April. It means cutting back on my running, ideally by 80%, then 60% then 40% but life is rarely ideal. My plans were mostly disrupted by work, not least having to go away for a weekend where the best I could do was a gentle three mile jog on Saturday morning. This didn’t really fit my strategy.
At least on the following Monday I was able to run 13 or so miles (and in a good time) which marked a notable reduction in the distance of my long-run. I thought reducing the distance, and number of times that I ran – increasing my rest – would be sufficient. However, I wanted to keep up the intensity of my speed sessions. So, on Tuesday, club night, I ran around the track doing mile repeats, and then 400m repeats. It was a good session. I covered over 6.5 miles. I even beat the chair a couple of times, and she is a good runner! I had sort of advanced to the back of the second fastest group. However, I probably ran around the track in one direction too many times. The following day I could feel that my right lower calf muscle was tight. I eased off for a day.
I then ran a tempo session on Thursday, but after four miles I stopped. I could feel my calf tightening dramatically. Since then I have enforced a period of rest. It is a crying shame with such wonderful weather, not a cloud (not jet plane) in the sky and I can’t run around for miles in the countryside.
I’m about to go out now and try a gentle run. I have two running schedules that I am balancing off of each other. One suggests 12 miles, the other 5. I’ll try five and see if I get any further, but I don’t think I’ll do 12 miles this evening.
