Tapering for an ultra is both my most favourite and most hated thing to do...mostly because by the time it actually gets to the point where I should be tapering, I've really only just started training. Pretty much every race I do I arrive on the start line half baked and undertrained, but hey, at least I'm not coming in with over-use injury strains right?! Anyway, I'm told more than half the battle of running an ultra is in the mind. My mind is like a god-damned steel trap, I have the mental thing nailed. Pity my legs don't always get the message though...
At any rate, by the time taper week comes around I'm invariably panicking about the lack of training I've done and feverishly plotting how to squeeze in an extra long distance run or strength session, and still fit in time to technically rest the legs prior to a big event. Tapering for me is all about swinging between blissful relaxation and bouts of manic energy...usually several times in one day. If nothing else it's entertaining to watch.
This week was no exception, so I thought I would share with you my favourite tapering activities especially catered to the upcoming Tarawera 100km ultra.* Most of these 'tips' admittedly have had next to no benefit in improving my running 'prowess', but jeez I've had a blast and that's the whole point.
#1: Sleep in. Oh God, the sheer bliss of not jerking bolt upright to the tinny sounds of my phone alarm. That jaunty jingle that I thought would make waking up at the crack of dawn more pleasant has not been missed. In fact the urgent need to heave the phone through the nearest window at 5am in the morning has completely disappeared. Funny that.
#2: Carb up with a guilt-free double-egg and bacon roll for breakfast. Actually I think this one should be done at least every second day just for the feel-good mental health benefit. You might have to run a marathon distance every week to make up for it but its totally worth it. Fitness be damned this is the real reason why I run. It's even better when your long-suffering other half cooks it for you.
#3: Dig a big hole. Seriously...there was method to this madness. We were at Hot Water Beach in NZ where fissures bubble up piping hot mineral-rich water to the surface. Bring your own spade, and at low tide dig like you're about to move to China to form your own personal thermal spa pool. Be warned though, the water can get pretty hot and so can your ass if, like me, you choose to sit directly on top of a fissure. This part not recommended. Take a bucket to fill your pool with cool ocean water now and then. Then sit back and laugh at all the other idiots doing the same thing.
Now if none of these activities actually help me on race day at least I can rest easy knowing that if I fall flat on my face in the first kilometre (a moderate-high chance), I'll know that half the fun has already been had dragging my sorry ass to the start line. I'm ready...bring it on!
*please do not take any of this advice as being actually beneficial in anyway for running an ultra. Some of it might help, but I assure you this is by pure accident and not design
At any rate, by the time taper week comes around I'm invariably panicking about the lack of training I've done and feverishly plotting how to squeeze in an extra long distance run or strength session, and still fit in time to technically rest the legs prior to a big event. Tapering for me is all about swinging between blissful relaxation and bouts of manic energy...usually several times in one day. If nothing else it's entertaining to watch.
This week was no exception, so I thought I would share with you my favourite tapering activities especially catered to the upcoming Tarawera 100km ultra.* Most of these 'tips' admittedly have had next to no benefit in improving my running 'prowess', but jeez I've had a blast and that's the whole point.
#1: Sleep in. Oh God, the sheer bliss of not jerking bolt upright to the tinny sounds of my phone alarm. That jaunty jingle that I thought would make waking up at the crack of dawn more pleasant has not been missed. In fact the urgent need to heave the phone through the nearest window at 5am in the morning has completely disappeared. Funny that.
#2: Carb up with a guilt-free double-egg and bacon roll for breakfast. Actually I think this one should be done at least every second day just for the feel-good mental health benefit. You might have to run a marathon distance every week to make up for it but its totally worth it. Fitness be damned this is the real reason why I run. It's even better when your long-suffering other half cooks it for you.
#3: Dig a big hole. Seriously...there was method to this madness. We were at Hot Water Beach in NZ where fissures bubble up piping hot mineral-rich water to the surface. Bring your own spade, and at low tide dig like you're about to move to China to form your own personal thermal spa pool. Be warned though, the water can get pretty hot and so can your ass if, like me, you choose to sit directly on top of a fissure. This part not recommended. Take a bucket to fill your pool with cool ocean water now and then. Then sit back and laugh at all the other idiots doing the same thing.
Digging like a lunatic at Hot Water Beach will help alleviate taper-madness symptoms.
#4: Drink oodles of water. I drank litres of the stuff and spent the rest of the day (and night) running to the toilet like an incontinent geriatric. Such fun. Try not to confuse hotel wardrobe with bathroom door at 3am though...trust me your mind is not equipped at that hour to deal with an unexpected excess of clothes-hangers when all you desperately want is a loo RIGHT NOW.
#5: Head for the 'Lost Spring' on the Coromandel Peninsula and take an hour to enjoy the thermal pools there. Soak those hard working feet and legs, and savour the feeling of pain free pins 'cause this is one of the last times they'll feel that way for a while. When it all gets a bit too hot take a dip/shower under the waterfall in the pool at the front...and pretend that you had no idea it was for ornamental purposes. After all, how was I to know? Yes it was a little more awkward to clamber in but it wasn't like there were signs saying 'no swimming' now were there?!!
#6: Stand in the crater of an active volcano...'cause if that doesn't kill you then neither will an ultra. Actually the sulfur will help you 'acclimatise' to the Rotorua natural surrounds, which I'm told, can be pretty stinky. Plus this was a seriously spectacular way to kill a day AND the taper crazies for at least another 12hrs. You get bonus points if a dolphin pod come out to play with the boat on the way to the volcanic island.
Centre crater of White Island volcano located offshore from Whakatane
Now if none of these activities actually help me on race day at least I can rest easy knowing that if I fall flat on my face in the first kilometre (a moderate-high chance), I'll know that half the fun has already been had dragging my sorry ass to the start line. I'm ready...bring it on!
*please do not take any of this advice as being actually beneficial in anyway for running an ultra. Some of it might help, but I assure you this is by pure accident and not design
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