I normally run only on Tuesday and Thursday the week of a marathon. Tuesday I ran lunchtime but due to a heavy work load (on marathon week, how does that happen?)  I needed to run Thursday morning pre-work. I set my alarm for 5am but was far too excited after so little running and woke at 4:15am. After contemplating going back to sleep I decided the best cause of action was to go for a run. Actually when prompted this is my go-to call, go for a run. ! So off I set around 4:30am into my old favourite 10k that I have now run 167 times (thanks Strava).

Being the second run this week (and it’s Thursday, when I would normally be on run 7 for the week) my legs felt heavy but this is to be expected at this stage of the taper week. It is normally around this time of the taper period you experience ‘niggles‘ , you’ll find you can just about finish your run and convince yourself you are about to have a major meltdown. I read on a tri-website that these niggles are just your body recovering but they don’t feel like that I can tell you. Fortunately this morning I was ‘niggle’ free, which should probably worry me.

Reading the article below by Isaac Walker it reiterates several points I have already mentioned  in previous posts. Hay in the barn , trust your training etc. all common sense advice but worth a second read, if nothing else to put your mind at ease. Taper time is a testing time at best, helped only by the extra ‘tukka’ on offer for the last 3 days. (just before my old friend ‘weight gain‘ comes a calling…)

Must admit I’m tempted to sneak out tomorrow morning because it will be glorious and I hate missing glorious mornings.  I must be strong, the right thing to do is lay in bed and relax but the call of old faithful, my favourite 10k, may be too much.

9 Ways to Deal With the Big Event Taper Blues By Isaac Walker

Sixteen weeks. Four months. One hundred and twelve days of early mornings, sore legs, injury worries, emotional highs and lows, and long hard weekend runs. And now you are supposed to ease right back on the throttle and cut your training. By a lot. You start to get moody. You have so much energy you feel like you are going to jump out of your skin. Your partner has had enough of your complaining. You think every little ache, sniffle and niggle is a catastrophic event-cancelling injury or illness. You start feeling sluggish and lazy. It sounds like you are going through what many runners experience leading up to a big event – the ‘taper blues’.

Tapering (for most) is a critical part of training plans. Whether you taper two days prior to a 5km road race or three weeks or more for an ultra distance, you are basically performing the same function. After stressing our bodies for so long the taper is there to let us heal and recover to a point where we can then operate the most efficiently and to our maximum ability on race day.

There are many differing views on tapering out there. My advice is simple – the shorter the distance the shorter your taper. The longer the distance the longer you taper. Reason being shorter and sharper training sessions will usually take a lot less time to recover from than long hard distance runs. Long runs beat your body up and you need that extra taper time to recover.

So the symptoms of the ‘taper blues’ usually kick in after a week or so of taper and are usually associated with longer distance events. If you have never had them before they can be quite discouraging and even a little scary. So here are a few tips and general points to help you pull through the taper blues and onto race day.

1. The taper blues are completely normal! You are probably not getting sick. You most likely do not have an injury that has decided to rear it’s ugly head one week prior to your big day. And yes, your other half is getting annoyed with your grouchy mood. Accept you are a little down then address it. Remember you are not alone. Chat with friends doing the same event or others who have been through this taper nonsense before.

2. Look back on what you have done. And be proud. One of the reasons we get taper blues is regret for what hasn’t been done. Think of the countless hours of training, early mornings and/or late nights and all the other strings that come along with training for a longer distance event. That is an achievement right there, regardless of what comes next.

3. Evaluate. Go back over your training and write down all the positives. All the things you enjoyed about your training. Then also write the negatives down and the things that may have not gone so well. These are the things to keep in mind and perhaps improve in your next training programme.

4. More events? It is a little crazy but many of us use the taper time to plan more events after the one we are tapering for! You don’t have much time to wallow in taper blues when you’re busy getting excited about your next goal. If you don’t have an event in mind then plan for something else. A personal fitness goal. A family holiday. Home renovations. Anything you can do to keep your brain ticking over and stimulated.

5. Taper means taper! You may be tempted to go out and get one last long run under your belt or smash out a hard tempo track session. You might be fine but my advice is once your taper period has begun, it is exactly that – taper time. Plus, this won’t rid you of your taper blues anyway. This means sticking to your plan and not being tempted to go out and possibly undermine some of the training you have done by adding fatigue to your system this close to your big event.

6. Active recovery more than ever. Taper time is a perfect opportunity to fit in more active recovery. Playing with your kids, massage, walking, swimming, stretching, rolling on your foam roller – anything that keeps you moving can be very beneficial. Don’t feel guilty for not going hard, that just leads to more taper blues. Enjoy the easy, liberated movement your fit trim body is allowing you.

7. The hay is in the barn and there is nothing much else you can do to enhance your training. You can however undermine your training by not tapering efficiently. So rest! Chill out! Make up some of those hours with the family and friends that you used for training. Spending time with loved ones will also help ease some of the tensions and stress prior to an event.

8. Last minute checks. Most people will have their nutrition and game plan locked down by now. It is a good time to run over everything and double check you have all your supplies ready to go. The last thing you want is to discover the night prior to your event that you left your favourite pair of socks in the washing basket.

9. Visualisation techniques. Visualisation can be a very good way to prepare your mind for an event and propel you out of your taper blues. Picture yourself standing at the race start. Imagine how you feel. Put yourself in a bad situation during the race and visualise how you would like to react to that situation. Place yourself being surrounded by your friends and family cheering you on as you come towards the finish line. Visualising these situations will help you prepare your mind for dealing with them in real life.