And so it begins: Taper. The first week is not bad; I still ran 57 miles this week, so my sanity is okay. This coming week and the following will be a different story. But the good (?) news is that I’ll have lots of grading this week to keep me busy.

Here’s how the first week of taper went:

Monday: 

7 miles of fartleks in the wind.

The trees were pretty, anyway. I did some core work when I got home.

Tuesday: 

AM: Bodyweight/dumbell strength workout in the basement. I said goodbye to the (relatively)heavy weights until after the race.

PM: 8 miles easy

Wednesday: 

I had 10 miles at goal pace on the schedule, and the wind was blowing a steady 35 mph and gusting up to 50. I knew I couldn’t even come close to goal pace in that, and I needed the confidence boost that would come from holding the pace, so I did it on the treadmill (plus a mile warm-up). I kept the incline between 1-2% in hopes that it would closely enough mimic outside.

Thursday: 

AM: More bodyweight work in the basement

PM: 8 miles easy, again on the treadmill, this time because my insides were acting up and I was scared to venture out too far.

Friday: 

7 easy miles on the treadmill. My stomach was still upset, but I wouldn’t have gone outside anyway.

I’ll run in rain (though I don’t like it), but when it’s accompanied by thunder, lightning, and tornado watches? Heck no.

I also did some core work.

Saturday: 

16-mile fast-finish long run. It sucked. A lot. My guts were still on the unfriendly side, and my legs refused to move quickly. This was not what I was hoping for two weeks out from race day. At least I finally got to get back outside.

On the intestinal front: I went back to the RD on Friday. She’s having me cut waaay back on fiber (max of 15 grams a day… which is really hard) until the race. Then, she wants me to get a test for bacterial overgrowth, but she said not to do it before the race. If that’s what it is, they’ll put me on antibiotics and a low-carb diet, which is, of course, the opposite of the diet I need to eat before a marathon.

I was really hoping this would be straightened out before the marathon, but as my mom pointed out this weekend, things could be worse. *End of pity party*

Sunday: 

Rest day. It was a busy weekend — my parents came over to Denver to celebrate my mom’s birthday, so we all got together at my brother’s house yesterday. Today was my best friend’s baby shower (one best friend just had a baby and the other is due in July, if you’re getting confused by all the baby news) and lots of errand-running. A rest day was perfect.

Total: 57 miles.

Let the taper madness begin!

If you’re a runner/athlete, how do you deal with the taper crazies?

What’s your favorite low-fiber food?