Taper Day 2 - In your head

Here we are, Day 2 of taper. Let the head games begin.

It will not be news for anyone who has read this blog before that I am my own worst enemy when it comes to tapering. I have a bad habit of over thinking things and getting into my own head. Tapering is a strange experience at the best of times. As the body climbs its way out of the fatigue hole you have buried it in you start to feel all sorts of unfamiliar sensations, however, those sensations are not necessarily what you are expecting. 

A lot of people expect the taper to bring them feelings of freshness and speed, to be bouncing off the walls. However, for many people, myself included, tapering often feels the opposite. It is not unusual during taper to feel heavy and slow, a bit lethargic. Usually you start to feel good near race day, but not always, sometimes you feel flat right until you start the race. That can be fairly disconcerting. 

The common reaction to feeling average during taper is to automatically assume you are getting ill. At a time when you are hypersensitive to illness anyway, the smallest prompt can be enough to bring on a full bout of hypochondria. The other thing that happens a lot is that people feel average and so they convince themselves that they will race average. The beat themselves in the event before they have even started. I have certainly been guilt of both of those reactions before.

Standing here at the beginning of my taper, the mental trap I am currently battling with is the classic illness one from above. I have been around some coughy people recently, I am taking the usual precautions, good hygiene etc and so should be fine, but the proximity of illness has got into my head. 'Did I just cough', 'am I coughing more?', 'is my heart rate a little high?'. All the old favourites have been on high rotation in my head today. 

My challenge for the rest of this week is to keep those voices in check. Those doubts will float in, there is no question, in fact I suspect it is pretty normal, but the trick for me to keep those doubts in context. For example, I may be asking those questions about a cough today, but the reality is that my resting heart rate is exactly where it should be. No matter how I am feeling, my heart rate is a cold hard fact that allows me to put those doubts in their place. 

That is what I need to keep coming back too as this week progresses, the cold hard facts. Feeling sluggish? Well I know I have done the work. and I know I am in good form because all my training tells me that. After all feeling sluggish is just a normal part of the taper. Feeling unwell? What does the heart rate tell me? Heart rate is normal, so relax and don't over think it.

I may not be able to stay out of my own head over the coming week, but that doesn't mean I have to let my head carry me away. Staying grounded and positive, not giving those doubts a foothold, that is what this week will all be about. Remembering that will only become more important as this week progresses.

One last trainer session before race day