Taper Madness

Ask any runner who has trained seriously for a long distance event about the last 2 weeks leading up to the race and you will hear the same phrase "taper madness".  Taper is when you start to shorten your runs so that you are fresh on race day.  The idea is that you can't under-do it but you can overdo it leading up to the race. 

I hate taper.  I am a girl who likes a routine.  One of my favorite expressions is "Some may call it a rut...I call it a groove."  So for me, taper represents a change in my routine.  Today I have a cold.  I feel crappy all over.  I skipped the gym this morning.  That's twice this week I didn't go.  When my routine is messed up, everything tends to be messed up.  I'm blaming it on taper, but really it's my own fault.  Taper shouldn't interfere that much with my routine.  I'm still going to the gym and I'm still running.  It's just not quite as much as it was 2 weeks ago.  So why do I have such a hard time with the last 2 weeks before a race?

As I develop into a better runner, maybe I will figure out why I have such a hard time with taper.  Maybe not.  But I hope that one day I can enjoy the 2 weeks leading up to a race!