I have entered my third week of marathon tapering, now six days from the race, and only seven miles of running left before the start line. How can you tell I'm tapering? Here's how.
- I'm super moody. In fact, on Friday I started crying for no reason. Although maybe it was PMS. Who knows?
- I'm (overly?) concerned over every ache and pain that rears its ugly head and threatens to destroy my race.
- I'm exhausted. Recently every day has consisted of me spending as much time as humanly possible lounging in bed. Wait. Maybe that's what I normally do.
- I am forever checking and modifying my race list. My list (like all of my travel lists) consists of the following categories: "to do," "to buy," and "to pack." Since I'm not planning on checking bags for my flight, I also had to add a fourth category, "to buy while there."
- I'm obsessed with weather tracking for race day. As they're predicting temps hovering around the 80-degree mark, I'm continuously strategizing and re-strategizing on how to adapt for a warmer run than I anticipated. I have, however, instituted a rule for myself that only allows me to check the weather once a day. Otherwise, it'd be every two minutes. Gold star for showing my neuroses who's boss.
- Despite being hungry almost all the time, I'm constantly vigilant about exactly what I'm eating.
- Speaking of which, I'm eagerly anticipating and simultaneously dreading the approaching carb-loading period. Starchy carbs are my food vice of choice. So I always have mixed feelings when it comes to the last days before a race when I get to indulge some. It's a treat to allow myself to eat almost all carbs for 2-3 days, but it does make me a bit more sluggish and weighed down than usual. And really gassy. Fun for everyone. (Oh yeah, add in an increased salt intake due to the expected heat, and it's gonna be a hot mess of bloating.)
- I'm becoming increasingly selfish. At this point, every action, performed by myself or others, is evaluated on how it will affect my race. I might be becoming a monster. (Also, see moody.) (Also, see PMS.)
- I am fantasizing about my post-race meal(s) like crazy. On my potential to-eat list: pizza, fancy gastropub burger, steak fries, thick vanilla milkshake, ice-cold hoppy beer, crabcake eggs Benedict, dense dreamy bread pudding. Oh dear, I'm overwhelmed with this food porn daydream.
