Tapering

The longest week of the training schedule is over and we've seemed to have come through it OK. A little soreness and a twinge of pain here and there but nothing uncommon to most runners. With just a little over 2 weeks to go before the big day, the endurance part of the training is over and now we focus on maintaining our fitness as we let our bodies recover from the 15 weeks of mileage buildup.

Jon has some knee pain and Jodi a sore hamstring though both are confident of their recovery and are undaunted by these minor setbacks. Jon and I had a very successful run on Saturday completing 22 miles with mile 22 being our fastest. Jodi and I had a good run on Sunday for her final long, long run so we all seem like we are well on our way to achieving our marathon goals.

With the weekly mileage going back down the body will begin to fully repair which can cause some mysterious pains and some concern. That is part of the process I guess that takes some getting used to. Identifying what is just pain and what is an actual injury. Most of what you get during taper is just some annoying pain. When the body is given a chance to heal all of the stressed muscles and tendons, they begin to push and pull on parts and places that usually don't get pushed and pulled on. These pains usually don't last long so take a deep breath and they will soon be gone. Your body does and incredible job of adapting to the stresses of running. It makes we wonder what our limits are.