Yes, it’s taper time for me, and I find myself stagnating. I feel kinda lazy, kinda not motivated, kinda blah… It’s weird how that works as running is not one of my most favorite things to do, but I have a goal and I feel like I’m not actively working towards my goal as I can only do so much for the next 7 days. So what does a person who is tapering think about? Their NEXT race, of course, and how to improve their time and fitness!! And bread. Freshly baked bread hot out of the oven with butter on top… OMG… that sounds heavenly. Blame James for that last image… he’s the one who started talking about fresh baked bread which is a no-no in our house while we’re training (per me, not him).
But hey, as I’m on the subject of bread, I thought I would give an update on my weight loss. I hit a very nasty plateau back in July. I had lost 8 pounds or so and couldn’t get the scale to budge at all for half of June and all of July, but I managed to make it move again at the beginning of August. A 6-week plateau is enough to kill anyone, but persistence and consistency was the key, and I never gave up. I have now lost over 18 pounds in total. I am meticulous about logging my food in MyFitnessPal, and, the biggie, I think my metabolism has kicked into high gear with all this silly running I’m doing. Eh. Just a small side note. That’s also 18 pounds I don’t have to carry around during my race.
490 calories of sheer heaven! I will treat myself to one after my race! 🙂 … or not…
Okay, so one thing I do when I’m not running… I read about running. We do subscribe to Runner’s World magazine, and we fight over who gets to read the latest issue first (this is getting to be an obsession, isn’t it), but I was playing online today and I came across an article in Runner’s World online, “How Many Miles A Week Should I Run?” If you check this article out, never mind the beginning blah-blah-blah part… skip down to the bottom where the charts are. For “mortal” people (meaning the non-elite) that are running a half-marathon, mileage should be about 30 to 40 miles per week. Ouch. I run between 16 to 20.
Does this mean I’m going to fail next week? Noooo, of course not. As I’ve said, if I have to crawl across the finish line, I will get that bling. But this information gives me something more to strive for (and I don’t care that I ended my sentence in a preposition). I have the Maui half coming up in January, so I can aim for 20 to 25 miles per week during that training cycle, then after that will be Kansas which I’ll aim for 25 to 30 miles per week. Ahhh, see the slow progression? One day, I’m going to run a half in 2 hours… maybe next year, maybe the year after, but I will never stop trying. And don’t ever tell me that I can’t, because I can guarantee you one day I will.
Happy Running!
What an awesome post..you inspire my running and my attempts at blogging 🙂 Love this article…and bread, yes bread…I’m eating bread after Chicago, with a big-ass steak…and the next RW is mine! And, yes you will run 2:00 one day…you rock!!
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Thank you honey! You’re awesome!
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You can and you will!! Plus you’re inspiring others along the way. 😀 keep dreaming of that bread, you’ll be able to eat it soon enough!! (For now you can sleep and dream of eating as much as you can and not have it affect you!) 😉 Big congrats on the weight loss! Sticking with it is the battle; if only those results happened right away. Oh and thank you for ending in a preposition and not caring; I do that all the time.
hehe
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Thank you Lydia!! You are always such a sweetheart!! 🙂
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YES YOU CAN!!!
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I can and I will!!! 😀
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Wow!!! FABULOUS on the weight loss . well done 🙂 and good luck (in case I don’t get back on here again in ages again. . )
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Thank you Niki!!!! 🙂
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You totally will because you are a bad ass! Do you know that I never once went over 18 miles in a week for my half training? I felt that I did well given my abilities. Taper week makes me insane. I was certain that I was getting sick and ready to stab anyone who breathed near me. You’re almost there! You are going to SHINE!
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You are so wonderful Dawn!! Thank you so much for cheering me on!! 🙂
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amazing weight loss I am feeling inspired!
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Thank you!!! 🙂
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my son is a runner and is in montana right now running
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Is it a race he’s running, or just for fun? That’s super cool! I’m not sure what area you live now, only that you have talked about the Seattle area which is where I am, but it’s so much fun to travel here, there and everywhere for races (if that’s what your son is doing)!
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He runs on cross country and so for school
in idaho
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That’s wonderful!!!
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yes he has been training all year so proud of his dedication
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It’s quite a while now since I trained hard enough for something to need to do a taper, but it made me so desperate to go out for a run! Enjoy and work on some positive mantras! How about ‘ I love running’? !!😊
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Hahahaha! That’s a good one!! 🙂
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Lol! I’ve been trying to convince my son that he loves running too!
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😀
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