Tapering

I haven't run in five days. I am neither injured nor depressed, which is often what causes a runner to pile up days of non-activity. I will admit that outside temperatures in the upper 30s with wind chills around freezing have not exactly been motivators. Plus a high ops tempo during our first week back in port has kept me off the treadmill in the ship's gym, or even the bike trainer in my stateroom/office. 


BUT, the real reason for this seemingly uncharacteristic running stoppage is the Tokyo Marathon that will take place in a little over a week. I am certainly not a long distance running expert...this will only be my 6th marathon overall and 3rd Tokyo run...but I find I prepare best by avoiding overuse and minimizing injury in the last two weeks before the big race. This practice flies in the face of the real experts' advice, which suggests a gradual tapering of distance and effort over the last two weeks, so that one stays in shape while at the same time restoring muscle glycogen or whatever for the mass expenditure of calories that will occur on race day.


These experts, however, often don't really have a life beyond running and writing about running. We mere mortals with real lives are now on the sixth month of trying to balance those long, and often boring, training runs into our work and family routines. And, since I seek no record or personal best ("A finish is a win"), I've no interest in whether my personal tapering routine will cost me another five or ten minutes off my total time. I lose that much time on bathroom stops during the run anyway. So my goal for these final two weeks is to simply relax and not overstress my mind or body to the point of not being able to enjoy the event for which I've trained since last summer


This non-conformist routine has worked for me before, ever since my first marathon (New York City) in 1986 when I sprained my ankle and couldn't run more than a couple of miles for a full month before the event. It was still a highlight of my life. Every marathon I've run since has been a similar thrill. The joy is in simply doing it, enjoying the crowd and the other runners, and crossing the finish line. Time? Like age, it is all relative.