In two days, I’ll be lining up with 30,000 of my closest friends, ready to run my 4th Marine Corps Marathon. I haven’t been this trained for the race since I ran it for the first time in 2008. Which means, for the first time in a while, I went into taper actually NEEDING to taper. I was exhausted and had been for weeks. And when you go from 50-60 mile weeks down to the 20s, you end up with a little extra time on your hands. As I did crazy things like weed through all of our off season clothes, I realized that the last time I felt this driven to clean clean clean, Shoo arrived a few hours later. This led me to the realization that tapering has a lot in common with the final days of pregnancy.
- You’ll find yourself doing the oddest chores. Many women find themselves doing crazy things like cleaning the bathroom floor grout with a toothbrush as they near labor. Marathoners, dealing with the excess energy that comes from running less, do similar things to burn off the energy. I may have painted my closet and completely emptied and scrubbed my pantry yesterday.
- You are soooo ready for the next step. Runners just want to get to the start line already. Moms to be? They are over the third trimester symptoms and just want to move on.
- Your attention span is about that of a gnat. If the topic isn’t the primary one at hand, you can’t stay focused. Work? What’s that? You are focused on finishing up your last prep. Do you have everything you need? Are you ready for the challenge ahead? What’s that twinge you just felt?
- Your internet usage is at an all time high. You are reading stories about how others have handled the same thing. You are googling cold prevention resources. Amazon Prime is your best friend as you order last minute items that you just can’t live without.
- While you may have other goals, there is one primary goal. Sure, you may want to PR the race or deliver a baby without intervention. But just like the whole goal of pregnancy and labor is a healthy baby at the end, for marathoners the goal is to cross that finish line (hopefully smiling and feeling good.)
I actually had a few more ways, but it is Friday Five 2.o, so…
Next time I post, the marathon will be in the rear view mirror. Since I’ve shared my goals for the race, I figure I will instead blow up in a spectacular manner LOL.
I’m joining Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup!
Haha! Been there, felt like that. Altho I can’t say I actually acted on any urge to clean or paint…
Good luck this weekend!!! have fun!
Wendy recently posted…Book Review: Mindful Running
I can’t help myself. I have time and energy, which hasn’t happened in quite a while.
Totally agree with all of these points. I was cleaning out my closets the week before the Chicago Marathon. I was on the internet a lot just trying to find out information about the course, etc.
Kimberly G recently posted…5 Favorite Fall Foods
LOL. On the bright side, a lot of clutter has left my house…
Fun analogy! Good luck this weekend
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner recently posted…Fall Races To Run In The DC Area
THanks! It was great to see you last night.
I’m usually SO nervous before a big race, except for my second marathon! I had trained so well AND I wasn’t injured so I was so excited to get that party started!!!
Good luck this weekend, you’re gonna do great!
I’m planning to have fun. If my body fights me, I’ll back off and just enjoy the day.
Have a great race! I never gave birth but you have definitely drawn a comparison that now I can at least understand a little!
Megan @ Meg Go Run recently posted…Baltimore Marathon Memories- Friday 5!
Thanks! Hoping it goes well.
What a clever post! Loved the comparison – I didn’t quite get round to scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush, but was just saved by the fact Baby arrived otherwise that would have been me, LOL! Best of luck!
Ha! I cleaned my whole house between when my water broke and my kid arrived. I just couldn’t relax.
Mostly my tapering energy is spent on obsessing over all the little niggles I didn’t notice before. OMG! My body is sabotaging me! The paranoia is real.
Yeah, I had all the niggles on my run yesterday. I was convinced I was broken.
Thankfully, I never really have that urge to clean (LOL!). I hope you have an amazing time at MCM!
Jenn @ Runs with Sole recently posted…Slowing Down to Catch Up
Oh no, have faith that all that hard work is gonna pay off!
I don’t think you are EVER going to see me cleaning grout with a toothbrush. I embrace the taper, and that’s just for a half!
Judy @ Chocolaterunsjudy recently posted…5 Ways to Find Your Mojo . . .
Thanks! I haven’t been cleaning like that, but I’ve definitely been decluttering.
Best of luck this weekend!! I’m so envious of you and all the other MCM racers! This race is near the top of my bucket list 😉
Kimberly Hatting recently posted…Favorite Fall (running) Hacks