My first tip for the taper – that funny 3-week period of time, where you suddenly have to run less - would be …
Don’t schedule a thesis deadline during the taper!! (or anything that involves sitting for long hours)
Having previously said that pairing a physical and mental challenge side by side is a good idea, in some ways there were issues with this set up!! In fact, it was a good combination while I was still training, but, when I got to the taper, that’s when the wheels started falling off. Having just finished my longest 20miler run, three weeks before the mara – my muscles were probably at their tightest and sore-est. Unfortunately this seemed to coincide with when I need to sit for hours on end at my desk, typing away into the small hours. I was sitting right on my sciatic nerve all this time, and this triggered the worst bout of sciatica/pyriformis syndrome I’ve ever had. I was in agony. For at least 2 weeks before race day, including at the running show the day before, I was limping around rubbing my right buttock! no joke! There was pain going down my left leg in the picture below, taken at the running show. Pain killers did nothing. Yoga helped a bit. How much of this was true physical symptoms or taper gremlins, I’ll probably never know, but I am sure a good part of it was psychosomatic. The stress of my thesis deadline, combined with reducing my volume of running, was somehow very hard for me. I had become dependent on (almost addicted to) running. My body and head needed it now, so stopping was super hard. So for all those doing marathons anytime soon my next tip for the terrible tapers would be …
Don’t listen to the taper gremlins they will be out in force! ‘Maranoia’ is definitely a thing!
The taper for me was a time of terrible self-doubt. Even after nailing a great PB in the Big Half, (following which I had been so confident, I could do a 3.30 marathon), all the sciatica and exhaustion from the high mileage, just brought me down with a bang. I literally couldn’t even do marathon pace in the last few weeks (My final target mara pace was 5min kms). During the few taper runs I did, if I could just about loosen up enough to run rather than walk. I mean it was that bad. My legs were heavy as lead – aches and pains crept into my left knee then my right achilles – I even thought I had plantar fasciitis at one point! Spending long hours in the relative solitude of thesis writing, exacerbated all this overthinking. The mental struggle of re-writing a second version of my work, being self-critical of my own work, I think this just sort of escalated in my head. I was spiralling!!
Going to club runs, at the end of a long day of lonely thesis struggles, to see the lovely friendly faces of Eagles like Magdelena, Lucile, Liz and Vicky, was just so calming and grounding for me. ‘Just trust the plan’ they said! ‘Let the magic happen in those legs of yours!’. ‘Put your feet up and relax’. ‘Stop over-thinking it!!! YOU’VE GOT THIS!!’. I will be forever grateful to those lovely ladies, for absolutely saving me from myself, during those terrible taper days.
Do look back at all the awesome training you’ve logged on Strava!
Another thing that really helped was looking back at my Strava graph & reminding myself of the huge amount of training I had achieved. I had never done this much training before, ever in my life!! You are supposed to feeling terrible at this point, the most physically exhausted you’ve ever been in your life. The way I was feeling was actually normal. It’s just very hard to believe this after feeling so strong and positive during the build up. You just have to wait it out, and try to focus on how amazing race day will be.
Do spend the night before, with a best running buddy!
I was lucky enough to have the lovely Hannah Copeland call me the night before the Mara. I would have been alone that evening, but she had returned from France and just visited her ‘Kenyan running friends’ in Windsor. She called me asking ‘could she come over for a quick cuppa?’. Now my sciatica was bad at this point, I was starting to just write-off even getting to the end of the Marathon. I heard myself saying to Hannah – no don’t come over – I’m knackered - I just need to get an early night. Now this is completely out of character for me. I’m definitely an extravert, and I usually get my energy from being with other people. So eventually, I changed my mind and invited e Hannah, over. Thank god I did because she really gave me the pep talk I needed! While I shovelled down as much pasta as I could, and laid out my race outfit and gels on the floor, Hannah (my absolute hero), inspired me with stories of how she had attended the race briefing for the Kenyan Elite women in Windsor! She had been rubbing shoulders with the likes of Joyciline Jepkosgei!! I was completely star struck! …. and so my next taper tip is:
Look to the greats for inspiration - or even - get a personal good luck from a Kenyan champion the night before!
Oh my gosh sometimes it’s not what you know - it’s definitely who you know! To my absolute delight, while Hannah was at my flat (that night before the marathon), Joyciline Jepkosgei rang up Hannah for a chat. While they were on the phone together, I was able to say good luck to Joyciline via Hannah, and Joyciline actually wished little old me, a good luck too!! I could not believe it. This was an unbelievable good luck charm sent from the running gods, if ever there was one! To have a personal good luck wish from none other than Joyciline Jepkosgei, was such an unexpected honour. I swear my sciatica almost disappeared on the spot! Isn’t it funny how psychosomatic the human body can be, and how positivity from others can turn around physical symptoms, just like that! I suddenly felt so hopeful for the race, it was such huge boost to my morale. With Hannah’s pep talk and Joyciline’s good luck charm, NOW I WAS READY. I could do this race - sciatica or no sciatica!!
