day 22:

taper thoughts:

going into the final days before the marathon thoughts of what to do are flooding my mind. do i lower the volume, increase the intensity, rest, take it easy, sharpen up with short fast runs or run marathon paced sessions, carb deplete, carb load...etc, etc. in the past when preparing for an event i usually keep the volume up until the last week before the event and then give myself a short 5 day of reduced volume and the usual rest day two days out. i generally only carb load 1-2 days before the event because i think this can be over-emphasised by many runners.

coming into the marathon my training has been very different this time around. instead of the usual high volume with a twice weekly track session plan i have been tailoring my workouts towards more marathon specific preparatory sessions hoping that i can become more comfortable running marathon pace while increasing my functional threshold. over the last 2-3 months i have also only completed 1-2 longer runs (20+ miles) which is typical in most runners build-ups.... but i've completed some great sessions running between 14-16 miles of volume at marathon pace and faster.

i have also completed three weeks (21 days) of following an un-typical low carbohydrate, high protein-high fat based nutrition plan. over the next few days i am going to be even stricter with the diet and eliminate the excess fruit and hidden carb sources that i have included in the primal challenge to continue to deplete my muscles of their glycogen stores before short 2 day carb replacement/load. the plan is to start eating carbs while reducing the protein and fat content slowly into the diet on day -2 and then on the day before i will try and continue to increase my carbs being careful not to take in too many.

still a little undecided on what i will eat on the morning of the race but i have a few days left to think about that. in the past the good old english muffin with honey or PB&J has served me well but i am still planning on staying away from the grains. i had some success with eating bananas and dates before a long run a few weeks back so i might go with some of the same. taper nerves are starting!

personal stats:
weight: 163lb (-9)
feeling: good
sleep: 6hr (interrupted, tired)
legs: good

today's exercise:
run: 33' - 5 miles w/ 4 miles mp (hr effort) - averaged 6:25 pace

today's diet:
breakfast: fried bacons, eggs, mushrooms, salmon + black coffee
snack: walnuts, carrot
pre-run: black coffee
lunch: tuna, egg, avocado, tomato, carrot + apple
snack: egg + black coffee
dinner: kangaroo steak (300g) on a bed of spinach and mushrooms + green salad w/ balsamic vinegar
snack: blue cheese, black olives