Skip to main content

Curry & Fun Facts Friday - Taper Week

Half Marathon & Curry
Tomorrow Jason and I are running in the Soaring Wings Half Marathon. This will be my 4th half and his 2nd. I did this one as my 2nd half last year. Kind of funny Jason and I are following the same path for our half marathons.

I haven't mentioned it too much, and for a reason. I tend to get myself really worked up before a race. I didn't follow a set plan like I have in the past, but did stick to a fairly typical half training routine overall.

Part of a plan includes a taper week. Most people call it Taper Madness. Usually I get freaked out too about cutting back on workouts, on my runs, on basically what's become routine. But, as I mentioned yesterday, this time....I'm trying to embrace the lower intensity week. I got in my runs Tuesday and Wednesday, I rolled, stretched, soaked in epsom-salt baths and even did yoga.

I even read up on carb loading. And not just eating tons of carbs, but the reasoning - the idea of building up a glycogen reserve. I need all the help I can get, so I took it to heart actually. That meant cutting back on fiber (we eat a TON of fiber), lowering the protein and even planning out a pasta dinner with (eek) regular old pasta.

Last night, Jason decided that a curried tofu dish over rice would be good. It was brown rice, but the veggies were reduced to carrots, onions, bell peppers and peas. I ended up having to make my own curry paste because we were out.
 
It turned out pretty good, but I think it could use just a bit of refining before I try posting it as a recipe.

Fun Facts Friday - Taper Week
For Fun Facts Friday, I thought it'd be fun to talk about the perks and a few pitfalls of taper week and how I embraced it for a change.
  • You have time to do things like make homemade curry paste.
  • I could sit back and relax, paint my nails and not feel rushed.
  • Taking espsom-salt baths felt more like something necessary not indulgent. 
  • I could "sleep in" since I was running a much shorter distance and didn't have to start as early.
  • I got to sleep in because of rest days.
  • I was much less worn out.
  • It was encouraged to eat carbs - and not just the "good" carbs either.
  • Of course, the downtime leaves more time to start to think....
  • I did pull out my race outfit by Thursday.
  • I checked the hourly weather forecasts...well...hourly.
  • I whined and freaked out to a friend (thanks for listening Jess).
  • I did let self-doubt creep in.
  • But, I didn't stress my legs running more than I should.
  • I actually did yoga twice in a single week (more than I've done in 2 years).
  • I loved coming home from work and just being done. 
Do you embrace taper week (this goes for lifting too of course) or do you freak out? Perks? Pitfalls? 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

I Run to Feel Alive

Today is National Running Day . Guess what I did this morning? Cycling? Nope. Lifting? Nope. I bet you thought kickboxing right? Nope. Running? But of course! I actually sort of planned my running days this week just so I could participate this year. I didn't get to run last year and didn't even know about it the year before. But running has become such an integral part of my life and who I am, that I couldn't miss this year. Basically, I run to feel alive . It calms me, it helps me work through life, it's often a reason to get out of bed. No matter how tough a run is, it makes you feel ... period. My plan was to get in 5 miles (got in 5.5 actually). It was about 10 degrees warmer this morning and definitely more humid. That always makes for a tougher run. We decided to take a different route today. Well, it was really only a few streets over different, but still. The point is we took a different street. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not. I did realize th

Vacation Day 2 - Running, Reading, Relaxing

Running This morning I woke up a bit before 7 am. Of course, we had gone to sleep by 9....on vacation no less. I had thought I might try for an outdoor run, but the temps were already a humid 83 degrees by 8 am. So, I took my run to the treadmill. I had the Food Network to keep me occupied for a pretty decent 5 mile run. Running and watching tv isn't so bad ;-) I did 3 miles, then 4 1:00 athletic intervals then finished up another mile to round it out to and even 5. After stretching and rolling (yep, brought my TriggerPoint kit ), we packed up the cooler with lunch and headed down to the beach. Not a bad way to start the day if you ask me. Beach Time & Stair Cardio We set up our little umbrella camp and proceeded to just relax. I was excited to start one of the books I brought along with me: Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon . I've read her memoir, Lucky , and her first work of fiction, The Lovely Bones . . We were out for a few hours before taking a break.