The Last Official Finisher of the Boston Marathon marathon training. All your hard work is in the bank, and you finally get some time to relax before the big day. But after weeks of high mileage, it is often difficult to break the pattern of fast paces and double-digit-mile runs.
Even though it is necessary to race well, it is easy to feel like you are losing fitness when you allow your body to rest instead of run. And then, of course, there is the fact that you want to eat everything. While tapering may prove to be just as challenging as your hardest workouts, it is also crucial to performing your best.
We feel you: But let us tell you, hard as tapering may feel leading up to your race, it is definitely worth the struggle. Here are 15 gifs that describe the tapering process a little too How to Master the 5k.
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When you can go home and relax instead of doing speedwork at the track:
When you’ve fully embraced your new lay-on-the-couch-and-do-nothing lifestyle:
When you’re starting to go a little stir crazy:
When you’re startled awake in the middle of the night with the thought that you didn’t train hard enough:
When you just want to devour everything in your fridge:
When you seriously don’t think you can move your legs anymore:
When you’ve lost all motivation to do absolutely anything:
When you don’t even want to walk to the next room and question how you ran twice a day just a few weeks before:
When you’re convinced your muscles are shrinking because you haven’t done a tough workout in what feels like forever:
When you’re 100 percent certain your coach is sabotaging you...
But then you wake up one day feeling great and realize your coach was right all along:
When you have have so much energy you could run two marathons:
When you must. control. your. pace:
When you feel like you’re totally and completely race ready:
When you know the marathon ain’t got nothin’ on you:
Before joining Runner's World, Gabrielle Hondorp spent 6 years in running retail (she has tested top gear from shoes, to watches, to rain jackets which has expanded her expertise—and her closets); she specializes in health and wellness, and is an expert on running gear from head-to-toe. Gabi began her journalism career as a Digital Editorial Fellow for Runner’s World and Bicycling Magazine, and has since advanced to a Runner's World Editor specializing in commerce. She has a double degree in English and Media and Communication from Muhlenberg College where she also ran cross country and track.
