Hi all!  I am Stephanie and I blog at Run for Fun!  When Ashley offered me the opportunity to do a guest post on her blog on Marathons and Moderation, I could not pass it up.  First, Ashley has the cutest blog and is super sweet.  Second, I could not in any way pass up an opportunity to write on my favorite topic of all…MARATHONS! I am excited to get to know all of you and I hope this post helps some of you.  Feel free to comment and check out my blog too, I love hearing from readers and getting to know everyone. I am also currently doing a Sweepstakes (usually referred to as a giveaway) for Skin Sake – an anti-chafe, blister healing cream – so be sure to check it out (shameless plug, sorry). Anyway, back to the important stuff – Marathons.

When Ashley mentioned she focuses her guest post series on Marathons and Moderation, I immediately thought of Taper Crazies.  I tried to think of something else to blog about, but honestly I just kept coming back to Taper Crazies so I figured I would just go for it.  Why not? Taper crazies get to the best enough of us, so why not talk about some type of moderation with Taper Crazies. So here we go:

In October of this year, I completed my first marathon, Marine Corps. 

There I am running a marathon. I am really excited. Yay marathons!

So while I am no expert, by any means, I can tell you what I know.  Originally, I thought Taper Crazies were a myth.  I figured that I would be different.  My general training schedule is different than most runners as I run less miles than others. So I figured that I would not be bothered by the Craziness that is Taper Crazies.  Well, boy was I WRONG.  I should have known better.  Of course, I was going to freak out – I mean I was attempting to run this 26.2 endurance event that I had essentially been training for over the past three years.

Here is the hubby and I. He already knows I am kind of crazy, notice the shirt? It is his official race shirt, which will be on sale in dri-fit for both men (and women versions too) really soon on my blog!

Crazies came in the form of phantom pains, nightmares, lack of sleep, random worries, over-packing, and obsession about blisters, side cramps, and the like.  My biggest worry was not that I had not gotten in enough miles or run enough, but rather that I had not had enough time to train for all the other things that you need to train for – how much to eat, when & how to get enough fluids, how to deal with side cramps, and what to do about these nagging blisters.

Here I am acting all calm.

I would like to tell you I was cool, calm and collected about all these things.  But, as my husband can attest, that would be a flat out lie!  So I just worried, and…uh worried some more.  Because when you don’t have miles and miles to run, all your energy has to be put towards something else, right?  So why not worry?

In the end, my worries were for nothing.  My first marathon, in my mind, ranks pretty high up there as one of the best days of my life, you know up there with weddings and fun stuff like that.

Weddings or marathons? You decide…

The race was amazing and wonderful!  Everything I was worried about seemed to melt away as I entered a strange marathon zone.  While in this zone, I knew exactly what I had to do.  Everything seemed to click from negative splitting to eating granola bars to drinking at all times.  The blister I had worried about did not appear and the side cramps and ankle pain that I stressed over, while they tried to make an appearance, I was not having it.  This was MY day and no one or thing was stealing it from me.

Now, I am not saying that it is always going to turn out perfectly for me or for anyone.  And I can’t promise that next time around (because there will be a next time) I won’t worry myself sick again, but I am going to try and practice what I preach now and that is Moderation in the form of Taper Crazies.

Don’t Let Taper Crazies Get You Down

Taper Crazies make me a sad runner…

Ultimately, it is normal and a right of passage to go through Taper Crazies.   Runners expect it, they know it is coming and I don’t think you can steer clear of such a process even if you are a seasoned runner. However, you can give yourself a break from these crazies.  And I did try to do just that and I will try my hardest to do it again next time around.  So here are just a few thoughts:

Tips on Taming Taper Crazies

5) Trust Your Training – I know people all say this, but it is totally true. You have put in the time and the effort.  You have practiced, you have worked hard.  It is easy during taper to feel you have not done enough, but you have!! Trust this.  You may worry a bit that you have not but then look back over your training plan and realize you have done a ton and let it go!

4) Watch Motivational Movies & Relax – all week leading up to MCM, I tried to relax and watch fun related marathon movies.  I told everyone that I could not take in any extra projects.  I canceled any extra plans.  I spent my nights on the couch catching up with all the running favorite inspiration movies…Hood to Coast, Glee you know how it is 😉

3)  Support Person – When I took the bar exam in two states, someone told me bring a support person.  Someone who is going to just be there for you!  Same applied to my marathon and I actually cheated and had two wonderful support people.  They kept me calm.  They made me dinner the night before the marathon.  They held all of my stuff the day of the marathon. They were my very own pit crew and I could not do it without them.

My two favorite guys- thank you!!

2) Rock Your Mantras – When taper crazies got the best of me, I remembered my mantras.  Sounds silly, but I promise they really work.  I think my favorite for MCM was – "I am not talking to you."  Sounds strange, but this worked. Mainly anytime anything bothered me, I just told it (whether it be my ankle, my stomach, whatever) that I was not talking to it, that today was my day and they were not going to ruin it.  No siree.

1)Have a Blast – Ok, this may sound lame but it is really important.  This is YOUR day. You have trained and worked hard. I know it is difficult not to get caught up in Taper Crazies or worry yourself sick but take a step back and take a deep breath and realize you are about to run a marathon.  You will start and you will finish I promise. And even if for some reason you can’t, there is always next time.  So put aside the worries and just rock it. It is your day 🙂

And after you will enjoy this – Marathon Ice-cream, the best kind there is!

So that is it for now.  My solutions to moderating and meandering around the Taper Crazies.  Thanks for listening and I hope to get to know all of you soon!