Taper Confessions

This first week of taper has been going so much differently than I expected. I am having feelings of wanting to increase my mileage to make up for missed runs throughout training, but mostly I want to run more because I have really caught the running bug lately. Instead of dreading my runs and constantly rearranging my run schedule I am trying to convince myself NOT to run and instead relax. I imagined that when I hit taper I would be ready to embrace the extra rest and catch up on cleaning and seeing friends. And as much as I could use the rest I have the urge to go for a run as a way to relax. I am really glad I decided to only do a two week taper instead of the usual three weeks as I'm pretty sure I would go insane.

The thing that is surprising me the most about taper is how calm I am. The NYC Marathon is only 11 days away and yet I am still so chill about the whole thing. I am waiting for the moment when it hits me that I am really running 26.2 miles on November 4th. Although the fact that I already completed my 20 mile long run has still not set in. I was thinking the other day that I hadn't done any long runs and that I was not going to be ready to complete a marathon until I realized that I have done long runs of

2 x 14 miles, 1 of which was the RNR Philadelphia Half Marathon
15 miles, that included the Baltimore Half Marathon
16 miles
20 miles

I had initially planned on doing more long runs but now when I look back on my training I am realizing that this is only my first marathon. I have only been running for about a year and a half and consistently running for 6 months. I am a competitive person so it is hard for me not to get caught up in trying to do too much too soon. I also had some nagging injuries that derailed my training. Given the circumstances I am happy with what I have accomplished and look forward to putting it all to use on race day.