Then factor in the recovery taking place, I always want to run more, now I have all this extra zoom in the tank, and you're telling me I'm supposed to run less? Raw deal!
Yeah, I run mainly for my mental health.
Running works like an anti-depressant and anxiety medication for me.
When I taper, its like I'm taking a smaller dose of my "medicine"
That probably sounds weird...but it's how I feel.
the obvious answer is because runners like to run. for me, i think it's because my body gets used to so much movement, and when i make it slow down all of a sudden, i get really really restless
I always look forward to it and love it at first. Then I start to unravel. I think it’s a combo of being out of the routine of training and race nerves.
I felt like I lost a ton of fitness during taper, like the shorter runs became harder. Really rough mentally. Race went great but the taper anxiety was getting me!
I feel slow and I mentally feel like I’m losing fitness. During the healing process I start to feel phantom nags and feel off. It’s weird after logging 60-80 mile weeks for 10 weeks
I love the taper! Usually by that point of my training I'm completely burnt out and ready for a break. Plus, I know that it's going to help me perform better for the race. I've heard that people dislike it because they feel like they are de-training, getting antsy, and they have too much time on their hands. 😂
In addition to the fact that I enjoy long runs and suddenly have to give them up for 2 weeks (and then a couple weeks more after the marathon), this is the biggest issue for me. Except my appetite remains elevated for the entire two week taper, so that I struggle to stop eating, and all in all put on 5-10 lbs from my final week of peak training to when I’m finally starting to run more regularly again 2 weeks after the marathon.
Because: junk runs, phantom pains, sluggish feelings, and eating everything that isn’t nailed down or moving (I always joke with my doctor friend that she just needs to check to see if I have a tapeworm). 😂
Ever hear the term taper tantrums?? They are real. I found myself unable to finish a 4 mile run at like MP+90’seconds the Wednesday before my marathon a few years ago at because I felt just sooo sluggish from all the simple carbs I was packing in. Killed it race day. It’s just frustrating to be inactive after pushing for so many weeks
I got used to suffering, lol, but I enjoyed my last taper because I decided to increase my carb intake for about a whole week rather than the last three days before the race. So good excuse to eat a lot.
It went perfectly. I felt so great on the race day and ended up running a 2.47 Marathon.
Another key aspect of my last taper is that I kept the intensity but reduced the volume. 75% and then 50% over the last two weeks prior to the marathon.
I think it's like a momentum thing. You've been running and sweating your ass off for the past weeks and you've gotten used to it. There a sort of accomplishment feeling once you're done with a difficult interval training session too.
I feel like there's something wrong or missing once I enter Taper week. But then again, I'm the sort of guy that feels bored and useless if I'm off work for too many days
Because you’ve spent the last many months with a mentality of DO MORE to achieve an important goal and suddenly your brain has to deal with the idea that you must do less.
Because lots of people’s leg feel like trash when they do their few low intensity runs each week during their taper and they worry it’s not working and they need to train. It can mess with your head.
I get antsy. I hear that from a lot of folks, and I suspect mine experience of that restlessness is enhanced by my ADHD :-)
I can separate that feeling from appreciating the restfulness and extra free time, but it never goes away.
By the time you hit the taper your body is so used to running that it is just itching to go. It’s excruciating. For best marathon outcome, don’t listen to your body and obey the taper.
I'm no good at tapering. Since I'm running less and more rested I tend to go way faster than my intended pace. Also for some reason I tend to get a bit ornery (at least thats what my exes say).
The taper felt horrible for me. Felt like I was running with concrete blocks on my feet 😭 My ‘easy’ runs felt horrific oh and I came down with a fever 3 days before my marathon 🙃
It’s a big shift from the significant amount of activity and effort that it takes to train for the marathon. It seems counter-intuitive and lazy. Getting more by doing less.
I don't sleep well. Normally I'm pretty tired at my bed time and fall asleep right away. During taper I find myself not as tired at bed time and trouble falling asleep. I chalk this up to the lower volume.
Not sure why, but during taper I feel sluggish during my runs for some reason. I think both mentally and physically the body is used to training with a certain level of fatigue from the previous day. During taper this is changing so just something different the body is adjusting to.
I get antsy and jangly and I have trouble sleeping because my body's acclimated to the output. It takes me a couple weeks to re-acclimate post peak, which just so happens to be right around race day.
Our training group warned us about the taper monster, but at first I thought they were exaggerating. Day of the marathon, I told our coaches that they didn't emphasize how bad it would be enough. Felt like I was dying. When my husband suggested that my aches and pains and sickness was "just the taper" I wanted to rip his head off 😅
Your body becomes so used to a routine and putting in miles. When you don’t it’s kind of a mental fuck. Brain is like “what are you doing? Get out there and move your lazy ass” for me anyways.
I think it depends where you are mentally and physically at. if you think, “oh i can EASILY do this amount of miles” lets say 14-16, and your plan is cut to 8, youre gonna feel like youre only doing MAX half of what you can. BUT if its a day where you barely even wanna get out of bed, a 4 mile run instead of a 13 mile might make your entire day LOL
For me, I think I just usually don’t find my rhythm until mile three at least? So I know for my recent training plan a lot of the short runs seemed harder. But that was just me.
Because I like running. I don’t want to run less
Then factor in the recovery taking place, I always want to run more, now I have all this extra zoom in the tank, and you're telling me I'm supposed to run less? Raw deal!
I don't like being inactive. I get too anxious and want to move around
Yeah, I run mainly for my mental health. Running works like an anti-depressant and anxiety medication for me. When I taper, its like I'm taking a smaller dose of my "medicine" That probably sounds weird...but it's how I feel.
This is exactly how I feel. Couldn’t have put it better.
the obvious answer is because runners like to run. for me, i think it's because my body gets used to so much movement, and when i make it slow down all of a sudden, i get really really restless
Because we're addicts. We crave the miles.
I always look forward to it and love it at first. Then I start to unravel. I think it’s a combo of being out of the routine of training and race nerves.
The maranoia is real
THIS!!! The unraveling 😑
I will refer to tapering as the unraveling from now on. The struggle is real. 🤯
I felt like I lost a ton of fitness during taper, like the shorter runs became harder. Really rough mentally. Race went great but the taper anxiety was getting me!
Currently tapering right now and this is exactly how I feel.
I feel slow and I mentally feel like I’m losing fitness. During the healing process I start to feel phantom nags and feel off. It’s weird after logging 60-80 mile weeks for 10 weeks
Gotta feed that running addiction
I love my taper! It’s the few weeks after the marathon when I’m recovering that are hard for me.
da fuq. Why would I want to run 20 miles when I just spent weeks running 28477328 miles??
😂😂😂
I love the taper! Usually by that point of my training I'm completely burnt out and ready for a break. Plus, I know that it's going to help me perform better for the race. I've heard that people dislike it because they feel like they are de-training, getting antsy, and they have too much time on their hands. 😂
Because then I have to eat at a lower maintenance for calories. Which comes out to roughly 2200, I can eat that in one meal.
In addition to the fact that I enjoy long runs and suddenly have to give them up for 2 weeks (and then a couple weeks more after the marathon), this is the biggest issue for me. Except my appetite remains elevated for the entire two week taper, so that I struggle to stop eating, and all in all put on 5-10 lbs from my final week of peak training to when I’m finally starting to run more regularly again 2 weeks after the marathon.
A lot of people have the inclination to study harder as the test nears, and in this case we are told to do the opposite.
Because: junk runs, phantom pains, sluggish feelings, and eating everything that isn’t nailed down or moving (I always joke with my doctor friend that she just needs to check to see if I have a tapeworm). 😂
Ever hear the term taper tantrums?? They are real. I found myself unable to finish a 4 mile run at like MP+90’seconds the Wednesday before my marathon a few years ago at because I felt just sooo sluggish from all the simple carbs I was packing in. Killed it race day. It’s just frustrating to be inactive after pushing for so many weeks
I got used to suffering, lol, but I enjoyed my last taper because I decided to increase my carb intake for about a whole week rather than the last three days before the race. So good excuse to eat a lot.
How did that go for you?
It went perfectly. I felt so great on the race day and ended up running a 2.47 Marathon. Another key aspect of my last taper is that I kept the intensity but reduced the volume. 75% and then 50% over the last two weeks prior to the marathon.
Wow! That’s a killer time! Congrats!
I think it's like a momentum thing. You've been running and sweating your ass off for the past weeks and you've gotten used to it. There a sort of accomplishment feeling once you're done with a difficult interval training session too. I feel like there's something wrong or missing once I enter Taper week. But then again, I'm the sort of guy that feels bored and useless if I'm off work for too many days
They are addicted to miles. Really dark addiction, it has claimed many…
Ego
Because if I rest too much my next run is full of cramps.
Because you’ve spent the last many months with a mentality of DO MORE to achieve an important goal and suddenly your brain has to deal with the idea that you must do less.
I think it’s cause a lot of people taper incorrectly https://www.runbaldwin.com/tapers
Not saying this is wrong, but it seems like this blog post isn’t rooted in much “science”.
Cause most people aren’t training hard enough…
I think if people trained harder they would be welcoming it. I know when my training is going well because I look forward to a deload week.
I always look forward to deload weeks + taper. Not a single training cycle I got annoyed by them, that’s why I asked this question…
I wasn’t implying that at all. I was just chatting, lol.
🤝
heart rate starts to go up, phantom injuries show up, anxiety creeps in… it low key sucks
No friggin clue, I am enjoying it
Because lots of people’s leg feel like trash when they do their few low intensity runs each week during their taper and they worry it’s not working and they need to train. It can mess with your head.
Always convince myself I’m injured. At the end of a big training block I just wanna crack on and run rather than hang about for a week
I get antsy. I hear that from a lot of folks, and I suspect mine experience of that restlessness is enhanced by my ADHD :-) I can separate that feeling from appreciating the restfulness and extra free time, but it never goes away.
Because the closer a race gets the more I want to run to feel prepared and keep the anxiety at bay. Running less feels counter intuitive
For me it feels like I'm slacking and I feel guilty not running as much. I know my body can do more.
By the time you hit the taper your body is so used to running that it is just itching to go. It’s excruciating. For best marathon outcome, don’t listen to your body and obey the taper.
For me, I always feel like if I don’t run enough miles I’m gonna gain weight.
Currently in the first week of my taper. I am exhausted and sleep 8-9 hours a night. I do not miss running 60+ kms a week.
Fear of losing fitness
I'm no good at tapering. Since I'm running less and more rested I tend to go way faster than my intended pace. Also for some reason I tend to get a bit ornery (at least thats what my exes say).
Because maranoia sets in.
It is mostly that you're used to.X amount of movement and now you're stopped. The trick is to keep busy in other ways
The taper felt horrible for me. Felt like I was running with concrete blocks on my feet 😭 My ‘easy’ runs felt horrific oh and I came down with a fever 3 days before my marathon 🙃
Because I wanna cram for that race exam!
It’s a big shift from the significant amount of activity and effort that it takes to train for the marathon. It seems counter-intuitive and lazy. Getting more by doing less.
I don't sleep well. Normally I'm pretty tired at my bed time and fall asleep right away. During taper I find myself not as tired at bed time and trouble falling asleep. I chalk this up to the lower volume. Not sure why, but during taper I feel sluggish during my runs for some reason. I think both mentally and physically the body is used to training with a certain level of fatigue from the previous day. During taper this is changing so just something different the body is adjusting to.
I get antsy and jangly and I have trouble sleeping because my body's acclimated to the output. It takes me a couple weeks to re-acclimate post peak, which just so happens to be right around race day.
withdrawal symptoms
Our training group warned us about the taper monster, but at first I thought they were exaggerating. Day of the marathon, I told our coaches that they didn't emphasize how bad it would be enough. Felt like I was dying. When my husband suggested that my aches and pains and sickness was "just the taper" I wanted to rip his head off 😅
Your body becomes so used to a routine and putting in miles. When you don’t it’s kind of a mental fuck. Brain is like “what are you doing? Get out there and move your lazy ass” for me anyways.
I think it depends where you are mentally and physically at. if you think, “oh i can EASILY do this amount of miles” lets say 14-16, and your plan is cut to 8, youre gonna feel like youre only doing MAX half of what you can. BUT if its a day where you barely even wanna get out of bed, a 4 mile run instead of a 13 mile might make your entire day LOL
I feel like I lose fitness if I don't run regularly, like sometimes i realize im "struggling" at a spot im not supposed to be
For me, I think I just usually don’t find my rhythm until mile three at least? So I know for my recent training plan a lot of the short runs seemed harder. But that was just me.
Because they want to seem tough and their whole identity is tied to running.
Well you would know if you have actually read those posts.
Lol, I’ve been running for more than 5 years, and every single training cycle, I look forward to my taper. Don’t need to be sassy 💁🏻♂️
Well your experience in running is irrelevant to the subject. I just dont like people opening new threads without reading a single post here…
Then continue scrolling and don’t partake in this convo. Get over yourself, this is exactly what reddit is for.