I’m now tapering for Vancouver 2022.
I got this weekend’s long run to 3 hours, and stopped shortly thereafter at a bit over 17 miles. I had hoped to stretch it to 4 hours and maybe top 21 miles. But, even though aside from expected laboring I was running just fine with no serious pain, I saw a sign that I had to stop the run early.
I wore and salt-stain sweated through my singlet during last weekend’s treadmill 20 miler. I had done the same on the treadmill with this weekend’s long run singlet.
However, along with feeling uncomfortably warm, I noticed about 2.5 hours in that the sweat coating my singlet had began to dry up. This was a sign that I was overtly dehydrated, and that continuing much longer would be a bad idea. My singlet last time was soaked pretty much throughout the entire run, and I didn’t certainly feel cool or relaxed through hour 3 of this run.
I was certainly hydrating throughout the run. For both long runs I infused Nuun tabs with a liter bottle of Smart Water, which itself has added electrolytes. I had been drinking from both this and an additional 17oz bottle of water, the latter of which I mainly used to wash down the Xact Nutrition bars I was practicing with during the run (as they’re the fuel for the 2022 Vancouver Marathon). That said, could my hydration before the run have been better? Maybe, but I certainly didn’t feel dry going into the run.
In any case, that was the last long run before Vancouver 2022, and now all taper running will be short-medium runs at marathon effort/pace or harder. I used this approach before Chicago 2018 and was in great shape for that race (before the hiccups derailed it). So the plan is to use it again.
Runalyze has my current Marathon Shape at a relatively disappointing 62%. And the taper will unfortunately take that number lower, though (in no small part because) the shorter pace running will conversely buoy my EVO2max somewhat higher.
I had been hoping for 70% shape, and if I had acquired a Runalyze account months before I started training for this marathon I would have understood how to effectively get it to 100%. But that’s a lesson learned for next time, and water under the bridge.
At my current VO2max fitness, I’d have the fitness to run sub-4 hour at sea level if in 100% marathon shape. But with only 62% shape my prognosis is more like 4:25, and presuming it drops the upside will be more like 4:30-4:40, a bit slower than my original goal. That I can live with: When I started with Runalyze my shape at the time allowed me to run a 5:30-6:00, so where I’m at now is much better. Plus, associated issues throughout the months limited my training, and there was only so much I could do this time around.
I also learned quite a bit through training about training, and have a much better idea of what I can feasibly, consistently handle (I’ll discuss it all down the line). I had to deal with sleep issues, earlier than expected rising temps in Vegas, having to figure out treadmill training. Speaking of which, I finally got a handle on effective treadmill training, what adjustments to make to get equivalent workouts, and could actually train through summer without overexerting myself or causing other problems.
Weather in Vancouver is expected right now to be at least overcast in the 50’s, possibly some light rain. The forecast for rain on race day has receded a bit, so it’s possible there may be none on race day. It has been raining in Vancouver almost literally for the last month straight, so I’m sure they’re getting tired of it and wouldn’t mind it going away. Even if the sun does come out after all, temps should hopefully stay a bit lower than they were when I ran in 2019.