My Road to TOWaterfront 42 K
🏁 Opening Reflections
Taper week arrived with its usual mix of too much energy and not quite enough spark. Every runner knows this uneasy balance-legs that feel both light and sluggish, fitness that’s fully loaded but still under wraps. This week, I reminded myself: taper isn’t about rest-it’s about readiness.
I carried that mantra-Fatigue with Purpose-through each run. The body might feel heavy, but the numbers and discipline said otherwise. This was the week to sharpen without strain, to trust the work already done, and to remember that quiet effort is still effort.
🧩 Workouts – Building Tone, Not Fatigue
Taper Phase | Run 1 – Aerobic Endurance/Strength
A smooth start to taper week, 35 minutes in cool drizzle that felt more like meditation than motion. Drummer Buddy kept rhythm, cadence was calm, and the short duration did exactly what it should-wake the legs, not tax them.
Pa:HR 11.7 %, IF 0.90 – textbook aerobic sharpening.
Taper Phase | Run 2 – Aerobic Endurance/Strength
Fatigue crept in early, but this was a defining run. HRM data may have come from the wrist sensor, but the body told the truth: tired yet controlled. The hills asked questions, and rhythm answered back.
Pa:HR 2.9 %, IF 0.89 – strong efficiency under stress.
The data said relax, but the body said earn it.
That paradox became the heart of this taper: effort didn’t feel easy, but efficiency said otherwise.
Taper Phase | Run 3 – Speed Workout
A crisp 2 °C morning-the kind that sharpens resolve before the watch even beeps. Gloves were finally justified. Four sets of two-minute Z5 surges kept the legs snappy without draining the tank.
Avg Pace 6:37/km, IF 0.96, Pa:HR 5.7 %.
Short, purposeful, precise. The workout reaffirmed that speed is there-it just needed a gentle nudge, not a hammer.
🌿 Easy Runs & Long Runs – Fatigue with Purpose
Taper Phase | Run 4 – Aerobic Endurance
“T” for Taper really did mean tired. I felt it from the first step. But sometimes, the best run of the week is the one you simply complete. The numbers backed that up-Pa:HR 7.1 %, IF 0.88-the hallmark of a body doing its recovery work.
Cool humidity, quiet roads, and discipline in motion. This was the kind of fatigue that says, You’re right on schedule.
Taper Phase | Run 5 – Aerobic Endurance with MRP Finish
The final long run of the training block-90 minutes with a 15-minute MRP close. It wasn’t smooth sailing: RPE ran hot, legs heavy, and HR flirted high. But the data painted a different story.
Pa:HR 3.7 %, IF 0.93 – low drift, high control.
Two Maurten 160s tested gut tolerance at race fueling intensity (~75 g carbs/hour). Verdict: success. The double-dose plan is locked for race day.
Hot RPE, cool data. The engine’s ready-the body just doesn’t know it yet.
🧠 Coach’s Corner
The pattern of this week says everything about true tapering: the workouts maintain tone, the easy runs flush fatigue, and the long run reveals quiet strength beneath the noise.
- Two back-to-back aerobic strength runs early in the week prevented sharpness from fading.
- The short speed workout midweek reactivated neuromuscular pathways without cost.
- The final long run balanced metabolic readiness with confidence-building fueling success.
You don’t taper to rest-you taper to remember. This week proved that the engine hums best when the throttle isn’t pinned.
🏁 Final Thoughts – Ready, Not Restless
With the final 13 km behind me, Race Week begins.
The fatigue is purposeful, the readiness real. Every step of this week was a reminder that fitness doesn’t vanish during taper-it consolidates.
“Trust the training. Respect the taper. The line awaits.”
Recap, Recover, Relax & Ready.