Taper Time!

This whole concept of tapering before a marathon is all new to me. I understand the purpose, but I have never really done a full taper before any of the half marathons I have run in the past. I have just not run a long run the week before the race. Since the LA Marathon will be my first marathon, I am trying follow my training plan as closely as possible. The next couple of weeks look to be pretty light in terms of running.

Here is my plan for the next few weeks:
I am trying to rest and get more rest over the next few weeks, but that has become a challenge lately as I have been having trouble getting a good night's rest. I am trying to eat healthier meals while not gaining any more weight. I was able to drop 5 lbs in February and look to drop another few in the coming weeks. I have eliminated all swimming workouts until after the marathon as I am afraid to get sick before the big day. I will continue to do some light spinning on the trainer a couple of days a week. I know what clothes I will wear on race day and what fuel (Cytomax, Gu and Salt Stick) I will be using during the race. I know all of these things work and work well for me.

Now is the time for me to prepare mentally for the challenge of running 26.2 miles. I got a nice pep talk last night about the mental aspect of the race. One point that was made was that if things started heading south for me mentally during the race, I know now how to comeback and get back on track to finish the race. I have been blessed with a great group of supportive people who have and will continue to offer great advice with regards to running and finishing my first marathon. So to all of you whether I have said it in the past or not...Thank You!

Tomorrow I am going to do my long run (11 miles) with the Mount Gleason Runners which is part of the Students Run LA program...looking forward to it, should be fun, I hope the rain holds off until we finish.

Have a good weekend!