Hansons!! Where's My Taper Time?

Monday workout: 5 miles, 10:52 average, Pace Gloves

Tuesday workout: 9 miles with 4 x 1.5 miles (9:30 with 400m rest), Pace Gloves

And on National Whatever Day, she rested.

I was so ready for this past running week (Thursday-Tuesday) to be over. As I mentioned on Sunday, I finished the week feeling really tired and not my usual, confident, (sarcastically) enthusiastic self. Also, it was hot as balls, which certainly didn't help the situation. "Hot as balls" is relative, of course. But spending all day in an office whose windows don't open (?) and whose ventilation system is broken did not a happy Jeano (slash workforce) make. Fortunately, though, the hot weather has passed, leaving us with cool temps and green trees!

True story: I was looking out my coworker's window today and said something like, "The glass in the windows must distort the colors outside; look how green it is!" to which she deadpanned, "Those are leaves." Touché, observant coworker.

But really, it sure is pretty out there.

 Before

After

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So on this my rest day, two and a half weeks out from my marathon, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about my Hanson taper. Let's take a look at the last three weeks of the training plan, shall we?

Would you look at that.

And now for an exercise in "What the f#*@, Hansons?", let's examine my reaction as I looked at the last two weeks day by day.

7 miles? I ran 10 miles yesterday! I usually get to run 5 miles on Mondays; why am I running 7?!

9 miles? Really? Why did I run 49 miles over the past six days? That sounds like a lot of miles, right? Too many miles. At least tomorrow's a rest day. And then I taper, right?

Yessssss, taper time, baby!

Fuh. 

We're still doing these long tempos, huh? Well, yesterday was a rest day; I'm feeling rested. Taper time, baby!

Where's my taper time?! 6 miles following a 12-miler doesn't sound like taper time, but whatever.

7 miles sounds even less like taper time, but at least it's the shortest long run I've done in ages. And at least I got to skip my scheduled 5-miler because I just found out my race is on Saturday and not Sunday. Joke's on you, Hansons!

Dammit. There's another one.

And another! I don't want to whine or anything, but this is my fifth consecutive day of running. 

Oh, great, the Hansons heard my pleas; taper time, baby! But wait, if I hadn't shifted my runs, I'd be running today. Assholes.

Not what I was hoping for, but finally, semi-taper time! We're done running, right? No more until the race?

What's happening? Where's my taper time? Why am I running 5 miles 2 days before a marathon? Bueller?

 

Okay, most people do a shakeout run before their race. But this is my third consecutive day of running! Am I rested? I've already run 19 miles this week. I was supposed to run 24! 24 used to be my average weekly mileage before I started marathon training. Who do those Hansons think they are?! Maybe I'll fail my marathon just so I can prove they're meanies.

*Passes out*

End Scene.

I was obviously a bit fragile. And talking to myself as though I was doing these runs while reading them.

When I first looked at the last few weeks of my plan (which, honestly, I didn't do until very recently), I considered changing it so I could run fewer miles and take more rest days. However, I can't deny that the Hansons have been spot on this entire training cycle. Straying from the plan when it's been going so well would be dumb. So in the name of science, I'll shut up and do what they tell me.

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So what's up with the Hanson taper? Why doesn't it give you as much taper time as traditional plans?

Well, the Hansons think that people who do 2-4 week tapers lose some of the fitness they gained during training. Also, from their mouths,

"When runners subtract too much training too quickly, they often feel sluggish and even more fatigued than they did when they were in their peak training days. By cutting the training back in a gradual manner, you'll feel fresh and ready to race."

I like feeling fresh and ready to race.

I was particularly excited to read the following:

"From a physiological standpoint, the taper fits well with the principle of cumulative fatigue, as the training program does not allow you to completely recover until you reach those final 10 days. Over the last couple of months of the program, some of the good hormones, enzymes, and functions in your body have been suppressed through incomplete recovery, while the by-products of fatigue have been simultaneously building. With reduced intensity and volume during the taper, these good functions flourish... If you are worried about your ability to run a complete marathon at the pace of your tempo runs, consider this: The taper can elicit improvements of up to 3 percent. That is the difference between a 4:00 marathon and a 3:53 marathon."

Well hey, I can get on board with that.

POST-MARATHON UPDATE: Hanson taper was awesome. Trust it. And maybe read some more about it here if "Hanson taper was awesome" isn't enough to convince you.

Questions:

• How long do you usually taper for?
• Are you celebrating this "holiday?" It's a bit frou-frou for me, but I can appreciate the idea of it motivating others to be active.