One of the staunchest walls I’ve incorporated into my coaching schema is “Peak no taper!” Freshman guru stuff from one that touts “The Mind is the Athlete!”
You want to be sharp and fierce going in. Why else would you be there? If you seriously trained up why not make the last piece of the puzzle a perfect click?
By the mail I get it seems almost all of you dig what I’m dishing. I’ll let those that don’t find their own. I’m coming around to the realization that Competition resides in Very Few Hearts, but a lot of those end up checking in on the musings.
So, Preacher to Choir, for goodness sake forget about the taper once and for all. The final week leading into your marathon is the most important. All that bull crap about the hay being in the barn is better spent tilled in as the fertilizer it is. OF COURSE THE HAY IS IN THE BARN! Jumping Jahosafat, what the heck were you doing the last 3-4 months if not getting your body ready for a supreme test? Why let all that hard work and determination slip off into flaccidity? You’ve got to keep the dynamic tension in your legs and core. Certainly the stressors diminish during a Peak, allowing proper recovery to feed a 26.2 mile charge. But you still need to get out every day. Here is a good week’s lead in from Wednesday to Sunday:
Wednesday: 1 hour easy with middle 2 miles at Goal Marathon Pace, 4 X 100 meter strides at end
Thursday: 45 minutes easy with middle 1 mile at Goal Marathon Pace, 4 X 100 meter strides at end
Friday: 30 minutes easy with 4 X 100 meter strides at end
Saturday: 20 minutes with 4 X 100 meter strides at end
Sunday: Race!
Peak! No Taper!
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