We break our bodies down, recover, and come back better than when we started. So in taper our bodies start to feel like crap. Systems are shutting down. They're shutting down on purpose - we are no longer applying those purposeful stresses - and they are recovering. Time to rebuild! If we do this right, we come back supercompensated. This is what we want, and of course we want to time it to coincide with our A race. If you've done your build properly, you may have seen a preview of this after a B race, or after a large intense training block, where you've applied race-like intensity and effort, recovered, resulting in a fitness boost. The actual taper is that and then some. I know I've seen very noticeable improvements after each of the half's I did this year, consistently about 12-14 days out from each.
But to get to that amazing place, we have to go through the crap first. We feel like we are getting sick. We notice every new little niggle, and worry that we have found a new injury. Things pop up that we've never felt before. In other words, we become hypochondriacs. AND we don't even really have a way to knock out the nervous energy, because we aren't working out at the same volume and intensity. There's still some there, but nowhere near the volume we've become accustomed to. This is worse for some than others. Fortunately I fall on the lesser side of things. Of course, I live alone, so that's easy for me to say. ;)
Here's the thing - you have to trust that you will come through the taper stronger than you were before you started the training. We need this time for our bodies to absorb the training and make appropriate adaptations. If you don't trust in it - meaning if you don't REST - you won't reap the rewards. So what can you do? I started really feeling sick last Sunday/Monday. Felt like I was getting a cold, and to be honest, that has happened to me every year just prior to key races, so I wasn't surprised. But my training approach has been quite different this time, and so I'd hoped I wouldn't have that this time around. I reached out to my daughter, Kayla, who just finished her studies in wholistic nutrition, and she made a few recommendations. I'll share them with you here, along with a few other suggestions, all of which I started last Monday.
- rest, Rest, REST!! meaning Sleep. There's nothing better for recovery than this. Super simple. and FREE. #justdoit
- Hydrate! Well! Not only do you need this for your optimal race performance, it helps flush all of the toxins out of your body, and clear anything that might be starting to surface. Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate.
- Double up your daily dose of Vitamin C - I use EmergenC, and I'm doing one in the am and one in the pm.
- Go to Arden's Garden (or your favourite fresh juice place if you aren't in ATL) and order a Grand Slam. Double up on the wheatgrass. Janet was right - it is a MAGIC CURE-ALL. The Grand Slam is a 4-shot juice fix of, in order of consumption, wheatgrass/ginger/lemon/cranberry. I've been doing 2x/week for the last 3 weeks, and will continue till race day. It's a hike for me to get there but SO WORTH IT.
- Oil of Oregano. This is from my super healthy nutritionist daughter. She takes this at the first sign of illness, and she's basically never sick. You can get it at Whole Foods. 2-4 drops under your tongue. (absorbed better by the body like this). Hold it as long as you can. Note/disclaimer/warning: It burns. It tastes like hell. But it works. Chew some gum after. Also a great excuse to down a shitload of water. She warned me AFTER I did it. ...and I forgot to warn G, after I recommended it to him. Oops. The text I got from him: "Oh Mike, by the way, it tastes like absolute shit and you'll probably want to puke and it might be cheaper to just get sick so insurance will pay for meds." hehehe. My text to my daughter contained a few more expletives ;) ...So it's not cheap (about $20), but it will last you forever, AND you aren't filling your body with drugs.
- Immunity tincture. drops, whatever you want to call it. In the pic above, called 'resistance liquid'. Also at whole foods (etc). Also tastes like, well, shit. But whatever. Also natural. Also from Kayla. Also may be useful if you find yourself on a game show on some remote island.
- Become OC about washing your hands, like me, thanks to Coach. In all seriousness, this is for real and also FREE.
- Don't stress about it. Trust your training. You've done the work. Now know this is part of the process and control what you can. Let the rest go.
So that's what I've been doing. Trusting the taper, and managing the things I can manage. And I feel great. Don't feel sick anymore, aside from the damn allergies. So little training last week, 4 days of no legs, and then BAM! This weekend's sessions were killer. Of course they may not all be like that between now and race day, but I know it's working.
I'm sitting here on the Capital One campus in Richmond drinking a Starbucks Americano...and my heat guard thingy (is that what this is called???) today reads "Be more splendid. Be more extraordinary. Use every moment to fill yourself up." (Oprah Winfrey). I think that's apropos for today, and for this week. I'll extend that to mean "Believe in your ability to be more splendid and more extraordinary. Use every moment to fill yourself with positivity, and the belief in yourself that you can be the best you and hence make your dreams come true." Very appropriate for taper as we struggle with the final waiting. We've spent the last few (or many) months building volume and intensity on top of our solid base. We'll use the next few weeks honing that to razor sharp race readiness - physically and mentally.
Enjoy the taper. You've worked hard. I know I've worked hard. Now it's time to let it all marinate.
T-13days, people. Almost there. Got real for me when I realized I'm seeing my Mum and sister NEXT WEEK. And then Coach went and put the final week into TP.
And don't forget your #PMA. (that's Positive Mental Attitude if you are new to my blog.)
Happy resting!
Kat
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