Tapering | Apple Crumbles

Recovery or Taper and Bow Tie Pasta with Egg and Capers

I’ve read all sorts of articles about recovering after a marathon. Some say take a day off for every mile. Some suggest a couple of weeks. Some say jog a couple of miles the night OF your marathon then rest or cross train for a few weeks. With the increasing interest of running back-to-back marathons, those recovery suggestions are sometimes not possible. There are rules however: 1. Don’t expect to run all out in back to back events. 2. Listen to your body. If you are hurting/injured, not just sore, after your first event, play it safe and pass on [...]

By Joanne|2014-04-26T14:21:18-04:00April 26, 2014|Health and Nutrition|3 Comments

Doesn’t Feel Like Tapering and FOFF Chimichurri Chicken

When you begin a two or three week taper as the marathon approaches, there’s a tendency to get antsy, begin to worry about your training, the desire to keep on keeping on. During this taper period for my last 6 marathons, that’s exactly how I’ve felt. But this time it’s different. This week my feet hurt and I’m tired. Sure, my training runs are shorter in time and miles so overall miles will be less but my body wants time off completely before the big day in Boston. Next week I’m going to super taper. I’ll take every other day [...]

By Joanne|2013-04-04T14:25:41-04:00April 4, 2013|Fusion Food & Friends|2 Comments

Lost and A Time for Daffodils

This is the final week of tapering for Boston. My miles are cut way down and there will be no cross training. I’m lost. I don’t need to get up early because my longest remaining run will be 6 miles. I’m just hoping I can sleep longer. The contradiction to that will be going to bed later. The result will be 6 hours of sleep, same as usual. There’s no winning. I know this time is for my muscles to get strong and my body to recover from all the training but it doesn’t feel as tired and worn out [...]

By Joanne|2012-04-09T16:59:29-04:00April 9, 2012|Life|4 Comments

FOFF Antipasto Pasta Salad

This week is the 2nd week of tapering for the Boston Marathon. Mileage has been cut back to about half of the highest total miles during one week of training which would make my total miles this week somewhere around 30 – 32 miles. My longest run was no longer than 12 miles. My easy days are no more than 4 miles. I will get 2 speed workouts this week. The first was done on Monday with the help of Jen. Running with her allowed me to get in 7 miles at my marathon pace (or close enough). The 2nd [...]

By Joanne|2012-04-04T16:30:06-04:00April 4, 2012|FOFF|1 Comment

Nutritional Goodies

This week starts the taper for the Boston Marathon. Most runners will begin with a decrease in weekly running volume of 20%. There will be at least 2 days of speed/strength workouts and one long run of no more than 16 – 17 miles, in some cases 14 miles will suffice as the long run. In terms of nutrition, we need to focus on muscle repair, strength and recovery. To do this, increase protein and decrease carbohydrates slightly. My first day of tapering was a strength workout on the treadmill which included a 2 mile warm up, 3 x 1600, [...]

By Joanne|2012-03-26T19:27:23-04:00March 26, 2012|Health and Nutrition|3 Comments

Enter the Taper and Red Wine Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

This is it. The most looked forward to yet dreaded part of marathon training, tapering. When all your hard work comes to a head, you need to reduce those miles and make every workout count. There are many schools of thought when it comes to tapering. One rule is to reduce training by 15% in the third last week before a marathon. Reduce training again by 10% in the 2nd last week. The theory behind the taper is that the reduction in work will allow complete muscle recovery from months of training. It will bring back the shock absorbing capacity [...]

By Joanne|2011-11-07T20:06:10-05:00November 8, 2011|Chocolate, Running|6 Comments