Skip to main content

What's worse than running a marathon?

The week BEFORE running a marathon.

The taper week. The what's done is done week. It's at this point that you are either in a panic realizing you can't go back in time and get in one more long run, or you're sitting back having enjoyed the journey trusting your training. I'm mostly doing the first part.
Just take me back about 3 weeks, I need to get in a 20 miler.
All I can do with five days to go is hydrate, sleep, eat, and run some shake out miles...and do my best to not drive myself and those around me nuts. The Taper Madness has set in.

Many of the symptoms are universal (obsessiveness, anxiety) although they manifest in different ways in different folks. Here are a few of mine:

1. I'm spending every waking moment either thinking about the marathon or trying not to think about the marathon. If I'm sitting on the couch with the tv on, I may be staring at the wall recalculating splits or trying to remember which mile last year I started cramping. On the other hand, ask me if I have thought about checking the weather...
I JUST finally pried my fingers away from weather.com, WHY WHAT DID YOU HEAR? 
2. On an easy run this afternoon I convinced myself my right foot had forgotten how to run. What, you didn't know that was a thing? One of my toes had an unusual (and completely harmless) pain, which led me to panic and focus completely on my toe, which made me panic and focus on my foot and analyze every aspect of the way it was moving and touching the ground. It became like that thing where you say a word over and over and it loses meaning. My right leg became a spaghetti noodle, and my foot had no clue what it was supposed to be doing. Good news though, I recovered from that emergency and was able to finish my run.

3. I am unable to do many things I normally do at work that require lifting heavy objects because I'm running a marathon this weekend. Basically everything I do or eat or drink or think I'm thinking about how it may affect my marathon this weekend.

4. I have to spend a lot, or all, of my time online reading tweets, blogs, etc because I need to know what everyone else is saying about the marathon this weekend.

5. I wake up every morning thinking and sometimes saying out loud "WHY CAN'T IT JUST BE TODAY!"

It's Tuesday night. I just have to survive the Madness and not succumb to my imaginary injuries and emergencies. That are totally real.

Gotta go check the weather, reconfirm the hotel reservation, and make sure my running shoes are where I last left them...
Labels:

Comments

  1. KarenApril 24, 2012 at 8:14 PM

    Hehe, breathe sweetie. :) You're gonna be awesome regardless of what the weather does. And if you wear your running shoes out of the house when you drive away, you won't forget them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 25, 2012 at 6:13 AM

    so you have become a total compulsive running neurotic...very cool! All healthy conditions that lead to nothing but your best Marathon to date! Focus on the incredible surroundings your will be running...the coastal views are breathtaking....there for your eyes only! hugs & love

    ReplyDelete
  3. notthatlucasApril 25, 2012 at 9:08 AM

    Nicely put - and if I didn't go through all this I'd be worried about that. Survive taper week and enjoy your race. It will get here eventually. Probably.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnnApril 29, 2012 at 5:48 PM

    Lia, I am linking to this post in my weekly newsletter. I don't know how to get in touch with you though so I thought I would let you know this way. Love this blog. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Year's One Day 12 Hour (Uh, 7 Hour) Race Report

Here's the idea: You pay actual money to run around in a circle for either 6, 12, or 24 hours. This is how you choose to spend your New Year's Eve.  That's it. That's the course. Just keep turning right until midnight.  Each time you complete a lap, you pass under the finish arch, that is never actually the finish line, and over a timing mat that tracks the number of laps you've done and displays it on a screen. This should actually say, "KEEP GOING FOR MORE HOURS" You're looking at the same people lap after lap. It's the Golden Gate Bridge over and over again. You're not actually getting anywhere.  What is the point of what we are doing. That question is exactly why I love this race.  Here are hundreds of people, lap after lap, living entirely inside their own heads for hours and hours, each with a different answer to that question.  Last year I ran because I just wanted to find out if I could do it. I wan...
10 comments
Read more

Big Sur Marathon 2012, Doing it right.

Saturday afternoon, @HalfMarathons tweeted this photo with the caption: Wind's gonna be strong tomorrow at the Big Sur Marathon. It blew down this port-a-potty already out on the course.  I don't know what's worse, the thought of wind that strong during the marathon, or the thought of being in that port-a-potty.  The weather in Monterey was beautiful Saturday. After the Expo, where Bart Yasso was hanging out at the Runner's World booth, and Dean Karnazes was giving a talk, we had lunch and walked the wharf. There were lots of commercial fishing boats docked along the pier to ogle and fish markets down at the end. Walking back toward the beach I heard from below a frantic "Stop paddling! Stop paddling!" I would say, just don't make eye contact and throw it in reverse.  The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent relaxing, eating, and preparing for the 3am wake up call to catch the bus. I did  Big Sur last year , but if you remember, part of...
8 comments
Read more

Santa Cruz 21k race report, or The Day Trail Running Became a Team Sport.

Normally after a race I can't wait for the race results to be posted online. At this point I'd just be happy with an explanation of what the heck just happened. Also, I want my money back. We drove to Santa Cruz on Saturday to spend the night since it was a good 2 hour drive, and I had come down with a cold in a bad way. Fever, runny nose, all of that stuff. I managed a half day at work and we hit the road. All I wanted to do was sleep. So that's what I did. In the car and in the room...later on we ventured out for dinner. We found a great Irish Pub in downtown Santa Cruz. Rosie McCann's. Red wine kills cold germs, right? And Ghirardelli chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream definitely kills cold germs.  Back at the room I checked my email, where I found the usual day before the race email from PCTR linking to race day instructions. The 29 and 50k were taking off at 8:30 and the 21k at 8:40. Bib pickup ended at 8:15. (I was going to also link here to t...
5 comments
Read more