Marathon Taper Traps (Runner's World '09 Article)

THREE WEEKS TO GO

Trap: Craving Carbs

Symptoms: The urge to stuff yourself with high-carbohydrate foods to ensure a vast supply of energy for the marathon.

Cause: "During those last three weeks, marathoners tend to think only carbs, carbs, carbs," says Vince Rucci, head of the Vertical Runner Marathon Training Group in Hudson, Ohio. But shoveling down the carbs, particularly at the expense of other important nutrients like protein, will make you feel bloated and will accelerate--and inflate--the normal water-weight gain associated with a taper

Solution: During your taper, slightly modify the carbohydrate-based diet you've maintained throughout your marathon training. "Simply emphasize the carbs already in your diet," says Nancy Clark, R.D., a sports nutritionist in Boston. "For example, instead of having chicken with rice, have rice with chicken." Clark recommends taking in 55 to 65 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, 10 to 15 percent from protein, and 20 to 30 percent from fat. Ensure the proteins are low in fat, such as chicken, fish, lean meats, beans, and legumes.

Trap: The Impulse to Cram

Symptoms: The sudden, irrational urge to "cram" in extra miles and more long runs, speedwork, and other quality marathon training during your taper, especially early on when your body is feeling primed for peak performance.

Cause: "Runners tend to be focused and goal-driven," says Kate Hays, Ph.D., the director of the Toronto Marathon Psyching Team, which offers peak-performance strategies to marathoners. "When they enter a stressful situation, such as the last weeks before a marathon, they rely on actions that have been proven to get results--like the cramming we all did before tests when we were in school." But while all that extra, last-minute studying may have helped you ace a college exam, additional training during your taper will only leave you feeling exhausted come race day.

Solution: "Rational thinking helps," says Hays. Realize that extra mileage and harder training at this point will hurt your marathon, not help it. Research has shown that those who taper properly perform better than those who train right up until race day. To convince yourself that you've done all the work necessary to run a good race, review your training log thoroughly, noting all the weeks of high mileage, long runs, and tough workouts. And no matter how short and easy your runs get during the taper, keep recording your workouts in your log to reinforce the feeling that you are studiously sticking to the plan.


Trap: Pressure to Perform

Symptoms: The overwhelming fear that the time goal you've set and trained for diligently is now somehow much too ambitious (what were you thinking?).

Cause: Once your peak training is over, it gets harder to feel confident in your abilities to maintain your goal pace. Many marathoners obsess on the five- or 10-minute gap between their goal time and the time they "fear" they might actually run--for example, crossing the line in 4:10, not 4:00, which would somehow make the marathon a failure.

Solution: Insert a couple marathon-pace miles in the middle of some runs during your taper (say two to three miles at marathon pace part-way through a couple of eight-milers) to reinforce confidence in your ability to hold that pace. You should also develop an alternative time goal that you can live with that's five or 10 minutes slower than your ideal goal in case the weather on race day--or your body--just doesn't cooperate.

TWO WEEKS TO GO

Trap: Recovery Rebound

Symptoms: A feeling of strength and complete fitness midway through the taper. Your body is itching to race.

Cause: As your mileage starts to decline after your last heavy training week, your body rebounds. The added rest and the four good months of training you have behind you have strengthened your body and your confidence.

Solution: No matter how good you feel, don't risk your months of marathon training for a PR or an age-group award at a local 10-K. A strained hamstring that plagues you throughout your marathon could be the subsequent door prize. Instead, re-read your marathon application to get yourself psyched for the big day. And meet with your training buddies for coffee to discuss marathon-day strategies. Also, find something active and productive to do on Saturday or Sunday mornings--say cutting the grass--to take your mind off of racing. Or if you must be around runners, volunteer at a local race. The energy there will give you your "race fix" without ruining your marathon chances.

Trap: Phantom Pains

Symptoms: A totally new pain in the foot, knee, hip, back, or insert-any-body-part here that strikes for no apparent reason.

Cause: Twinges and passing aches are all part of the body's rejuvenation process. "During a taper, tissue repair on the microscopic level causes muscle twitches and sometimes muscle cramps as the body adapts," says Dr. Smurawa. Also, when we run less, and worry more about our marathon, everyday aches and pains-which would normally be ignored--get exaggerated to the point of lunacy.

Solution: Think of each phantom pain as a signal that the body is healing itself and preparing you for the marathon. Since your workouts are now shorter, spend some extra time on your favorite stretches to help relax your body. And if you like whirlpools or long baths, indulge. Also, if you've had massages during other parts of your training, get one this week. It will further aid the healing process.
Trap: Panic Attacks

Symptoms: Every time you feel an ache or start to think about some aspect of the race, you jump to a doomsday conclusion. (I have a stress fracture! The hill at mile nine is going to be the end of me!)

Cause: Most panic attacks stem from a lack of confidence and a fear of the unknown. "This is a particular problem for first-time marathoners," says Hays. If you've never run a marathon before, or you've never run a particular marathon course, you have no experience to draw from to boost your confidence.

Solution: Collect all the information you can about the racecourse from your registration materials, the race's Web site, and even personal insight from those who have run it in previous years. If possible, run parts of the course or ride the whole thing. Some races offer guided bus tours of their marathon route the day or two before the event. Knowing everything you can about that hill at mile nine will help you conquer it. You can also come up with solutions to problems that might arise during the marathon, such as how you'll handle a blister or a side stitch, so that you know you'll be prepared to overcome any obstacle.


ONE WEEK TO GO

Trap: Heavy Legs

Symptoms: A tired, heavy feeling centered in the legs, but affecting your whole body, that you get late in a taper.

Cause: "Tissue repair in the legs during recovery, coupled with the fact that you are storing more carbohydrate and water late in the taper, will make you feel like you do after eating a big meal," says Dr. Smurawa. In other words, you feel like a slug.

Solution: Remember you're not the only one feeling this way. "Just knowing that this is how tapering marathoners are supposed to feel can help curb your anxiety," says Robert Udewitz, Ph.D., a sports psychologist and the director of Behavior Therapy of New York. Also, try a few strides (100-meter sprints) after some of your easy runs. Strides can help knock off the rust, leaving you feeling fresh and ready without overdoing it.

Trap: That Sinking Feeling

Symptoms: A feeling of malaise, depression, and hopelessness, which often accompanies the physical sluggishness that intensifies at the end of a taper.

Cause: "Generally, running counters feelings of anxiety and depression," says Hays. "So as you run less miles, bad feelings tend to crop back up and increase."

Solution: Take a short-term approach. "You only have to get through the rest of the taper," says Hays. Do a little low-impact and low-intensity cross-training--like pool running--to generate the good feelings you normally get from running. Also, use your downtime to focus on other things that bring pleasure to your life, such as listening to music, cooking, and being with family and friends. And rent some funny movies or read a few joke books to lighten your mood.
Trap: Weight Gain

Symptoms: A couple of additional pounds that show up on the scale at the end of a taper.

Cause: When we eat high-carbohydrate foods to stock our glycogen (energy) reserves, water is stored along with the glycogen. "If you have been chronically dehydrated, that extra water can cause some gain in weight during a marathon taper, since you're running less and not sweating as much," says Clark.

Solution: Realize that the extra "water weight" will be beneficial during the marathon. It will actually help keep you better hydrated on race day, when it will be released as the glycogen is burned. But you can also do a few practical things to help you cope with this temporary weight gain. Don't weigh yourself during the three-week taper period. And if the feeling of tighter-than-normal clothes causes you anxiety, wear clothes with more forgiving waistbands and drawstrings.

Cindy Brochman Passes Away After Year Long Battle with Cancer

The Minnesota running community lost one of it's most active and enthusiastic members this week as Cindy Brochman passed away after fighting cancer over the past year. Cindy died at her home, surrounded by her husband Kevin, family and friends, on the day of their 6th wedding anniversary.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 10th, at Eagle Brook Church in White Bear Lake. Visitation will take place from 2:00 to 3:00.

For more information on Cindy's athletic career and her battle with cancer, read Chad Austin's interview at Running Minnesota, or visit Cindy's CaringBridge site, which Kevin continues to update.

One of our Baba Yaga teammates from our Hood To Coast relay team wrote this tribute to Cindy:

Cindy Brochman was part of a sisterhood, born fifteen years ago, on the top of a mountain. Every year since the mid-1990s, Cindy covered the steep, grueling first leg of the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon, as part of Team Baba Yaga, a sisterhood of twelve. The faces of those twelve changed a bit from year to year, but Cindy’s face was constant. Cindy’s salience was insured at the annual event, as it was her character that embodied the spirit of Baba Yaga. From the confidence she exhibited at the start of the relay, clad in bun-huggers, to the fearlessness that set the square of her jaw-bone, to the strength she poured into those dreaded “fourth legs” of the relay she was called upon to run on more than a few occasions, Cindy’s spirit led the Baba Yagas to Women’s Open Division Championships or runner’s up, fourteen years in a row. Cindy played out the message of the Baba Yaga story on the course and in her life. She embraced all of life’s challenges with a sort of zeal that most of us only envy. Her final race was not so unlike the many that preceded it. She was familiar with the pain associated with drawing breath in the final miles. In the end, her last race must have ended the way all good races do; with the embrace of friends and loved ones, and a feeling of deep satisfaction, knowing that you dredged the depths of your abilities, and discovered a surprising new piece of the humanity you call Self. Suddenly, you feel unburdened…free…as if you had wings.

Thoughts go out to Kevin Brochman and all of Cindy's family and friends.

Running Shoe Guide Winter 2009

All this treadmill running made me forget to update my shoes and now they feel very flat! Need help choosing from the new models, or simply want to learn enhancements made to your favorite? Check out shoe reviews by Warren Greene and Martyn Shorten, Ph.D Runner's World's Annual Winter Running Shoe Guide.

The best place to get shoes is Run n Fun in St. Paul, MN. The staff is amazing and the owners are gold. If you know what you want they will ship anywhere!

Winter 2009 Running Shoe Guide at Runner's World

Need an Excuse to get Motivated? Watch Nike's No Excuses Video

I love this video. I think we can all relate to every one of the excuses we have to not do something, not workout, not get out the door for a run, skip weights, whatever. I think my favorite on the video is "I have a case of the Mondays...and I have gas..." Check it out:

Post Run Flexibility Yoga Routine

Post Run Yoga Stretch Video

Try this after your next run!

NYC Marathon 2009: Where to Find Live Coverage

Want to watch/read? Here's where you'll find the Runner's World "live" race day blog that follows the elite men's and women's races in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon.

Paula Radcliffe defends her title; Minnesotans Jason Lehmkuhle and Josh Moen seek top places in the Men's USA Marathon Championships. Will Lehmkuhle place higher than his wife Kristin's third place finish at the Women's Champs in TCM–October 2009?

What time to they start?

• Elite women depart Staten Island at 9:10 a.m. EST
• Elite men (and first of three waves of citizen runners) following course a half-hour later.

Watch a live feed of the race simultaneously on universalsports.com or the Universal Sports TV channel starting at 9 a.m. EDT. NYC-area viewers can tune to WNBC's scheduled live coverage of the marathon from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Great Calf Stretches for Shin Splints (Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome)

Hi all, just got back from Duluth, MN from a BNI Director training, and had some nice 5am runs up there. Duluth is an amazing place to run with all of their trail systems and hills, and spectacular views of the lake, electric sunrises, nature, buildings and mansions and of course, the lift bridge, which lights up in the darker morning hours.

While there, I was asked specifically about calf stretches, from a friend who is getting into walking but is suffering from self-described shin splints. Here's what I've found online, I thought I'd share in case this helps any of you.

A series of great stretches for Shin Splints - medial tibial stress syndrome.

Shin splints are a common problem for many people, especially runners and joggers. Thankfully, if you suffer from shin splints, there are exercises you can do to help ease the pain and prevent future problems. Here are nine exercises -- with photos -- to help you. The exercises shown are for stretching and strengthening the lower leg muscles. There is no answer yet for the cause of shin splints, but you can learn more by reading What are Shin Splints - medial tibial stress syndrome.

Seated ankle dorsiflexion and calf stretch using a rope.

Shin splints are a common problem for many people, especially runners and joggers. Thankfully, if you suffer from shin splints, there are exercises you can do to help ease the pain and prevent future problems. Here are nine exercises -- with photos -- to help you. The exercises shown are for stretching and strengthening the lower leg muscles. There is no answer yet for the cause of shin splints, but you can learn more by reading shin splints - medial tibial stress syndrome.

Exercise 1: Sit on the floor with your knees straight. Loop a rope or towel around the front of your foot and gently pull back. Move your foot up toward your shin (dorsiflexion) and hold for 10 seconds. Then move your foot down toward the floor (plantarflexion). Keep your legs flat on the floor, motion should only be at your ankle joints. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Once you have mastered the stretch, now it is time to strengthen by using a resistance band. Perform the same movements, but loop a resistance band around the front of your foot and the other end of the band around a table or chair leg. Do 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Bent Knee Ankle Dorsiflexion and Calf Stretch
Sit on a bench or table with your knees bent and your legs hanging off the side. Bend your foot up toward your shin (dorsiflexion) and hold for 10 seconds, then lower your foot by pointing your toes back toward the floor (plantarflexion). Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Once you have mastered the stretch, move on to the strengthening exercise. Keep the same position as before, but now you want to add a weight to your foot. Raise and lower your foot with motion only at the ankle joint. Try not to have any motion at your knees. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Toe Walking - Stretching and Strengthening; Standing and rising onto toes.

Begin by standing in place and rising up onto your toes with your heels off of the floor. Try to hold the position for 10 seconds and slowly lower your heels back to the floor. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Once you have mastered standing in one place, start walking on your toes. Start with your toes pointed straight ahead, walk about 25 yards. Next, point your toes inward and walk 25 yards. Finish by pointing your toes outward and walk 25 yards. Remember to keep your heels off of the floor. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

After you have mastered walking on your toes, you can progress to high-impact exercises like jogging or skipping. Be sure to do them on soft grass.

Heel Walking - Stretching and Strengthening

Begin by standing in place and lifting the front of your foot off of the floor and keeping your heels on the floor. Try to hold the position for 10 seconds and then slowly lower the front of your foot back to the floor. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Once you have mastered standing in one place, start walking on your heels. Start with your toes pointed straight ahead, walk about 25 yards. Next, point your toes inward and walk 25 yards. Finish by pointing your toes outward and walk 25 yards. Remember to keep the front of your foot off of the floor. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

After you have mastered walking on your heels, you can progress to high-impact exercises like jogging or skipping. Be sure to do these exercises on soft grass.


Standing Ankle Dorisflexion Stretch

Stand facing a wall, keep your knee straight and your heel on the floor and place the front, bottom part of your foot against the wall. You will feel a stretch in your calf muscles. You could also use an inclined platform for this stretch. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Straight Knee Calf Wall Stretch

Stand facing a wall with your body square to the wall. Outstretch your arms and hands and lean against the wall. Keep one knee straight with your heel and foot firmly on the floor and gently lean forward until you feel a pull in the back of your leg (calf). When your knee is staight, this stretches the gastrocnemius (superficial calf muscle). Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Bent Knee Calf Wall Stretch-for the soleus muscle.

Stand facing a wall with your body square to the wall. Outstretch your arms and hands and lean against the wall. Keep one knee bent with your heel and foot firmly on the floor and gently lean forward until you feel a pull in the back of your leg (calf). When your knee is bent, this stretches the soleus (deep calf muscle). Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.


Wall Toe Raises – Strengthening; Exercise to help strengthen muscles in front of lower legs.

Stand with your back against a wall, keep your heels on the floor and raise the front of your foot up (dorsiflexion) toward the front of your lower leg (shin). Hold that position for 10 seconds and then lower your foot back down so that it almost touches the floor, then begin the next exercise. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Once you have mastered doing the exercise with both feet at the same time, start to do the exercise one leg at a time. Another variation to try is to do quick up and downs of the foot. Remember to keep your heel firmly planted on the floor. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Foot Step Holds – Strengthening

Stand comfortably with your feet shoulder width apart. Take a normal sized step forward with one leg and let your heel touch the floor, but before the front, bottom part of your foot touches the floor you need to stop. Do not let the front part of your foot hit the floor. Step back so your feet are side by side and shoulder width apart like when you started. This exercise helps strengthen the muscles in the front of your lower legs. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

Once you have mastered a normal size step, take a much larger step forward. If that become easy, you can progress to using a step stool. You stand with both feet on the step stool and with one foot you step down off the stool, your heel should touch the floor, but you should stop before the front of your foot touches the floor. Start with 3 sets of 10 exercises and then increase to 3 sets of 30 exercises. Do this 3 times per day.

From About.com

Updated: May 14, 2008

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