Looking at my training diary over the last 8 years I always take 48 hours off pre-racing (bar last week of course when Mark texted me and we ran a relaxed 10k the day before?) I have decided to go back to this strategy which has worked so well in the past. I must admit to being a tad concerned that last year I ran a good 10k pre-Fremantle but paid the price on race day, I certainly ran 1-2 minutes slower than planned. It will be interesting to see if the increased workload of the last few months has allowed me to race, train and recover quicker than previous years.

Good start to my 48 hours of no running, pre Fremantle half. Managed to not put my running gear in my work backpack and not go for an early morning run. So worst case scenario I can only run once today, after work. Small steps, or in this instance no steps !

I’m not sure how I got to this state of affairs as in previous years I always looked forward to a few days off pre-racing. When I first started racing marathons I would always give myself 3 weeks off, much to my friend Jon’s disgust. In the last few years this has dropped to a 2 week taper using the 80% and then 20% rule. I.e. 80% of normal training load two weeks out and then 20% on the week of the marathon. I would always keep up the intensity for the 2 week pre-marathon workouts but in the week of the marathon it was (and still is) only 2 * 10k at a very relaxed pace, no intensity. Taper time is to be embraced in my view. The last week there is nothing you can possibly do to improve your marathon time by running, nothing. The best you can do is maintain your fitness and, with the right carbo-loading strategy , knock off a minute or two. I’ll discuss proper tapering when I have to do it for real in a few weeks for the Perth Masters Marathon ( www.perth2016.com )

I go by the 1k-1day (estimate) recovery time from racing. So for a 10k I reckon you need a good 10 days to recover, similarly for a marathon it takes me about a month. I have friends who recover quicker but also ones who take longer. I’m sure if I was in my twenties the recovery time would be shorter but for me personally the 1k-1day is pretty close. I have run a marathon twice after a 10k the previous weekend and both times I faded so this is something I no longer do. I will consider a 5k a week pre-marathon and have booked myself in to the Perth Masters 5k track race on the 29^th October, a week pre-World Masters marathon. As I have mentioned before I am a big believer in racing and its benefits. So far this year I have raced 21 times and have another 7 planned, love racing.

Right so far so good. All this talk of taping has made me hungry, can I carbo-load for a half. Probably not a good idea but it’ll do more good than going for a run, have I mentioned Yelo before. ( http://www.yelocornerstore.com.au/ )