I'm Handling It (The Taper). I Am.

As many of you know, "tapering" is when an athlete cuts down on workouts in both length and intensity to recover and prepare for an event.  Usually I pretend to taper before a race, but I don't really do it.  This year, because I have been actually training for the 8k/Half Marathon Challenge, I thought I should do it up right.  I decided to cut down the mileage by about 1/3 and replace my intervals with a slow and easy run.

It figures that the week in which I cut down on mileage and intensity is an incredibly stressful week.  Of course.

This is EXACTLY how I look on the outside when I am stressed out. 

I often joke that there is no problem that food and booze can't cure, but runners know this isn't true.  I NEED running.  I NEED intensity.  When I get restless, I want to hurt people.

This is EXACTLY how I look on the inside when I'm stressed out.

  It's difficult to take part in a two-hour meeting knowing that there will be no run to shake off the negative vibes.  It's difficult to shelter students from an irate parent in the parking lot who has just pulled a gun (true story--my Friday) and then come home to. . .no run.

Yoga just doesn't take care of that.

This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm de-stressing after school.  I look great with blonde hair, eh?

One thing I have done to take off some of the pressure is to stop logging my calories in My Fitness Pal.  I am a wee bit obsessive about it, and because I live to eat, it would be too difficult for me to think about those calories that I'm just not taking care of as efficiently as I could with running.  I'm still trying to make good food choices, and I'm still counting in my head, but I am also telling myself that there is only so much I can handle during this time.  I weighed myself once, and I've dropped two pounds, but that could be water weight.  I'll probably start logging calories again after the half marathon.

Today I ran with Shelby; we did nine miles in the sun on the Towpath.  Running with a friend is the BEST way to handle a taper.  I am able to bitch and moan to Shelby about everything going on, and she knows the best way to pretend to listen to me.  I love you, Shelby.

I'm going to end today with my traditional Mother's Day video.  A word of warning: If you are offended by Mike Polk or the word MILF, well, why are you reading my blog?  Anyway, DON'T click on this if you are sensitive.  It's hilarious and you might not be able to handle it.

Happy Mother's Day to all my Mother Peeps.  We are all MILFS to somebody.



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Tapers and Tweets

Today I ran nine beautiful miles on the Towpath in Peninsula.  I started from Lock 29 with Renee, Kathy, and Carrie, and we ran for five miles before the Turtle training session.  Then I ran with my favorite band, Gogol Bordello, for the last four.




This is such a cute video, and it has the bonus of being one of the few "clean" Gogol Bordello songs I can post here.  I am in love with Eugene Hutz, the lead singer with the sweet 'stache.  My husband and I have an agreement: if Eugene ever calls for me,  I am outta here.

Anyway, I was running and zoning, and I passed a couple with my typical warning, "Passing on your left. . .unless I die first."  I thought I heard my name, but I was still in music mode, so it didn't register until I heard it a second time.  I turned around.

"Are you Stephani?" the gentleman asked.

"Yes," I said, wondering if the Turtles had passed a message on to me somehow.  You see, when my running peeps and I get separated on a path, we rely on people (usually the bikers) to relay messages for us.  We usually say things like, "When you see a woman wearing a neon pink shirt that says 'I'd rather be drinking,' ask her to turn around at the four mile mark."  So, it was for this reason that I thought I'd be getting a message.

"I follow you on Twitter," he said, extending his hand to shake mine.  Holy schmoly!  What are the odds of that?  Anyway,  I hope I remembered this correctly, but my newfound friend's name is Michael, and he found me by reading my posts in the Fairlawn-Bath Patch online.  Michael and his friend and I discussed the Cleveland Marathon, which is coming up next Sunday.  I will be running the half, and Michael and his friend will be run-walking the 10k.  They will love the 10k; I ran it last year and I had a blast.  Remember this review?

I am so happy that I met someone through running AND social media.  I used to think that Twitter was, well, for twits, but now I realize that I have connected with so many people from whom I learn many great lessons.  Thank you for reminding me of that, Michael.

I would love to meet up with anyone who is running Cleveland next Sunday.  When we all get more information on the staging area, I'll tweet out a meeting time/place for anyone who is interested.

Happy tapering, Peeps!

You know I can't leave you without mentioning Mother's Day, so here is Mike Polk's tribute to mothers.  Well, it's actually his Mother's Day tribute to MILFs.  If Mike Polk or MILFs offend you, don't watch this.  For the rest of you, this is hilarious.


Happy Mother's Day!

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