Body v. Mind ... Not On The Same Page!

Tapering ...

My body ... "Ah, thank you kind sir ... the ol' left wheel was starting to wobble a little!
Great time for a break!"

My mind ... "What the heck man!!! 
Just when we were gettin' good you pull over to the side of the friggin' road???"

Okay, I promise not to whine about tapering during this post!  I think my friend Jason at Cook Train Eat Race put it best when he commented, "Tapering for Boston....that just sounds awesome even if it is hard to do. Think about what you are doing and just know that it is incredible."  Thanks Jason!  Great advice to be sure!  And to tell you the truth, even though it's a tricky process - the bottom line is I'm only 6 days away from standing at the starting line at Hopkinton! Yeah baby!

But in my further over-analyzation of the already beaten dead horse - I do find one particular point of interest in the "Taper Zone"... 

While my body was actually begging for a slow-down,

my mind is really confused about the whole process!

Boston will be my 10th marathon.  And with each taper period, it seems I learn something new, and make a few more changes.  I took a full two week taper for this marathon ... something I typically don't do, but to tell you the truth, my knee and ankle were pretty beat up and welcomed the rest.  But what to do with my racing mind?  Even though it's been proven time and time again that a good, well performed taper allows your body to recover and prepare itself for a race - I read very little about it being a recovery period for your mind.  The main thing I struggle with is SELF DOUBT!

As many of you know, I'm a diligent trainer and keep detailed records of the process for future reference.  Based on my training this time, I honestly thought I had a PR in the bag.  But the same thing happens every time I taper for this long ... questions about my performance slowly creep in.  Call it over-confidence, or lack of the same ... either way, I am now doubting whether or not I will run this race at the time I had planned.  But the truth is ... I'm 100% okay with that!  If it happens it happens!  I mean, they don't hand out Laurel Wreaths for the PR I would be setting anyway.  But it is so interesting to me what a difference a few days make.

A few weeks ago I ran a 21 miler and got faster and faster on the last 6 miles.  If it would have been the marathon, I could have slowed down 30 seconds per mile on the last five and still set a 5 minute PR.  I was on top of the world and never felt stronger!  There is no reason to believe I have lost any fitness.  I've also lost the 5 pounds I was shooting for.  And my body should be more rested than it has been in 3 months.  So why the doubt now about repeating that performance?

I think for me it's because I've had a few marathon disasters before.  The Austin Marathon was the first marathon I did not walk at all in a race.  Ever!!!  After 9 marathons, I'm just now figuring out how to run them!  So I know that's one of the main things weighing on my mind.  Also, it seems I've always been a "What have you done for me lately" athlete.  I seem to have short term memory loss when it comes to competing.  Now, this can be good and bad.  But it's like my mind doesn't remember that my body is perfectly capable of running my fastest marathon ever at Boston.

Whatever the case, the taper period always seems to rest my body - but over activate my mind!  But only a few more days and we'll be taking that plane ride to the East Coast!  And I can't wait!  So bring it on baby!  Even though my mind is playing tricks on what my body can and can't do ... I wouldn't change a thing!

Bring back Pia ... Seacrest out!
... be great today!