Marathon Taper Tips - Training for a 2_28 Marathon - S1 E8 - Road to Valencia Marathon.mp4

Good morning everybody, my name is Ben Parkes, 236 Marathon Elk Runner, and this is training for a 228 Marathon. So, welcome back to the channel. So, really sorry that there's been a bit of a delay between videos, the coaching business has been super busy, so having to concentrate on that for the time being. But now we're kind of, that's sort of settling down a bit, people are getting into the groove for London Marathon, Brighton Marathon, Manchester Marathon things. Yeah, we'll be able to get back to some more uploads and some more YouTube content coming up. So, today I've got, yeah, we're, what, we're about five days out from Valencia Marathon, so I thought we could have a quick chat about tapering, what I've been doing over the last couple of weeks, a bit about sort of food I'm eating, and yeah, just sort of go through the day and follow me along for what's going on. So, the first thing we've got to do is have some breakfast. So, I've just got cornflakes, and then into that we're just chucking in some almonds, some chia seeds, then just some non-dairy milk. So, good morning and welcome to a freezing cold London. It is, well, probably not by most people's standards. All you guys in America probably think this is tropical. But, yeah, it's about four or five degrees Celsius, not sure what that is in Fahrenheit, probably just above 40 Fahrenheit in London today. So, yeah, got all the waterproof gear on. Hopefully it's not going to rain, but it's the best windproof protection I've got. So, yeah, what are we doing? Well, nice, easy, relaxed jog, 10k, just off to the doctors, because I've got a couple of races next year, and you need to get the medical forms signed off to say you're fit to run. So, it's super annoying. A lot of races in Europe do this. They make you a doctor, sort of sign away their lives saying that you're fit to run. So, no matter who you are, whether you're trying to make 230 or 7 hours, a lot of races in Europe say you've got to have this form done. So, yeah, we're off there now, and I'll catch up with you on the way. Good morning, everybody. So, Instagram, welcome to YouTube. YouTube, welcome to Instagram. Yeah, just running across Tower Bridge, filming sort of stuff on YouTube, just off to the doctors to get a medical certificate. Well, guys, made it to the end of the run, so it was 10k. I messed up my watch, so I'm not sure how long that took. But, yeah, about 420 kilometres. So, we've made it to the health centre now, going to go in and get the certificates done. Right, see you in a bit. Right, so that's the doctors done, managed to get the forms done. So, it's like Trans Gran Canaria form and Pisa Marathons behind there. Where am I going? This way. Yeah, it's super annoying to have to do this. I feel bad, like I've just taken up someone's probably valid appointment when they're actually ill, just to get that done. But, yeah, some races make you do it. Right, anyway, enough of the moaning. It's time to jump on the tube, get back home, and then we can have a chat about tapering. Well, right, guys, that's me back from the doctors. So, yeah, I'm sort of all a bit smelly in my running clothes. So, going to have a quick shower, get changed, and then I'll meet you back here for some tapering tips. Right, let's see you in a bit. Right, guys, so I'm going to have a quick talk about tapering, really what I've done. I'm going to make a bit of a tapering specific video for everybody in the next few weeks. So, yeah, just quickly sort of why taper, if you're new to this sort of terminology and things. Really, you know, over the course of a marathon cycle, you build up so much sort of residual fatigue and sort of little tears in your muscles and things and niggles and stuff over sort of that marathon training cycle. So, the last two to three weeks, it's really sort of lowering sort of the amount of distance you're running, a little bit of intensity lower down as well, just to give your body a chance to sort of fully recover and take on board all of that fitness that you've been and that sort of work you've been putting it through. Right, guys, so, yeah, let's just have a quick chat about my taper. So, when you're sort of tapering, you kind of got to take what your sort of peak weeks are. So, I've talked about it, I'm not really sure, but I did about 165K a couple of times, but really pretty much it was always about 100 miles a week for the peak weeks. So, yeah, with my sort of two weeks ago, we were looking at about 130K that week. I wanted to do 140K that week, but just on the Sunday, I was just super, super tired. So, let's just have a quick look through. So, yeah, so Monday was just a nice sort of chilled 145-hour heart rate, just nice sort of chilled run. Really nice to be coming into that under three-hour marathon pace for that sort of time. Well, what I want to talk about quickly was the session that I did on the Tuesday. This is my sort of real sort of really confidence, really sort of good session that I did. 10 by 1K, so yeah, a bit of a tough thing out there, but yeah, so the reps, so yeah, three minutes, 2.59, 2.59, 3.01, 3.04, 3.02, 3.04, 3.05, 3.06, and 3.04, just about holding it together at the end. So, yeah, that was probably the best session that I did for the whole training cycle. Really, really confident, really, really pleased with that. And, yeah, sort of that's my kind of good indication that Valencia, hopefully, fingers crossed, is going to go okay. So, yeah, that was kind of, you know, the main sort of chunk of that week. And the rest of it was pretty easy, just sort of had some errands to run, you know, life gets in the way. And, yeah, I also had a day off on Friday, which was kind of planned in, so I was feeling super tired. But, yeah, just kind of cut it a bit short because I was super tired. So, yeah, I was meant to be a 20-miler there on Sunday, but didn't really happen. So, on sort of one week out, one week to go, again, a lot sort of more, a lot more easy running. The main session I did for the week, 3x3K at half marathon pace, just to get the legs ticking over nicely. Not, you don't want to really sort of add too much or any sort of fatigue in there. There's not really that much extra fitness you can add during this period. So, yeah, just doing it at 3.17 kilometer pace, 3.14 and 3.12. So, yeah, really nice, did a good speed. I don't think I had my heart rate turned on for this session. But, yeah, it was feeling really nice, really comfortable. A really good session to do. I've given it to a couple of my clients to do. Sort of that 3x3K, it's like your last main session in that sort of two weeks to go. So, yeah, that's kind of been it. The rest of it has all been pretty much easy running. I am going to go out and do one more session this week. But it's just going to be some easy sort of stuff at marathon goal pace, just for like three, four K chunks of that. And also, something to really focus on is strides, getting your strides in there as well, just keeping your legs ticking over nicely. Right, let's look at some other tips that can help you out during the taper. Right, guys, so just going to touch on really, really quickly a few other little bits and pieces that, you know, need to be thinking about during this taper phase. So, the first sort of thing you want to be doing with about two weeks ago is creating a race plan. So, a lot of people come to me and say, how fast can I run the marathon? Well, I can't really answer that, but you have to look back at some of your training and see where you're sort of, how that sort of race pace has felt and look at the heart rate and sort of see what's possible. So, for me, in this sort of 228 effort, all the data says that sort of should be fine and it's going to, could potentially happen. But, you know, I'm not going to sort of jinx myself or say anything because the marathon is such a really, really tough distance and, yeah, so much can go wrong. So, yeah, we'll see. You know, in my mind, it's still a bit 50-50 at the moment. So, yeah, you want to be thinking about sort of race plan with about two weeks ago. Check out the course. Amazing. People very rarely look at the course, look at the route, see what it's like, you know, see what the elevation's like, see where the water stations are, what food are they giving out on the course, where is that going to be, where's the start, where's that relation to the hotel. Check all these things out with about two weeks ago. You don't want to be doing that, you know, sort of the day before the marathon. Also, you want to be going for some runs in your exact race kit. So, race shoes, race socks, shorts, vest. Now, for a lot of people in the UK, that might be quite cold running around in your vest, especially if you're going abroad like me to a bit of a warmer place to do your run. But, yeah, maybe just a little run on the treadmill. But whatever you're doing, make sure that race vest is something you've worn in practice, you know, in your training and make sure you're really sort of happy with that. And also, obviously, practice your nutrition. Make sure that, you know, those gels that you're going to be taking on race day aren't some brand new gel that you've just bought at the expo or something, you know. It seems obvious, but, yeah, make sure you're practicing, you know, with your exact race nutrition during those sort of two weeks to go. Keep nice and hydrated, lots and lots of water. But, obviously, you know, to thirst, don't go sort of knocking back litres and litres of the stuff, you know. But just keep hydrated, just keep thinking about it. You know, there's no sort of exact formula for how much water to be drinking. But, yeah, just keep yourself nice and hydrated. Probably the biggest thing for me at the moment is sleep. I'm really trying to get eight, nine, even about 10 hours of night sleep just to get my body nice and recovered and relaxed and let all of that stuff set in. Also, like, think of some backup plans. What if something goes wrong on the way to the race? At the moment, we've got a bit of a storm coming in. The weather outside is looking pretty miserable. So, you know, I've already been onto the website looking at the weather, seeing the flights are going to, you know, leave on time and hopefully they're going to be fine. But for me, I always fly out a couple of days before the race, so we're flying out on Thursday and the race is on Sunday because any sort of travel plans go wrong, you know, I need to be on the start line at the right sort of time. So flights go wrong. But also, you know, check out your travel to the start. You're going to be booking a taxi. They're going to be hopefully turning up on time. Buses. Just have a bit of a backup plan for everything that you're doing. And yeah, that's, you know, that's kind of it. Everything that I'm sort of focusing on in these sort of last two weeks. And as I say, I will be doing a bit more of a tapering sort of video and things a bit more detail. So, yeah, what are we going to be doing now? I've got some sort of hats and things to post out. All these new hats have been flying off the shelves, been doing really well, so I've got to post some of them out. I'm about to have some lunch as well. So, yeah, join me for the rest of the day and we'll see what we get up to. Right, guys, thanks very much for following along. Been a bit of an odd day, but hopefully you've got a few tips and things there about what I've been doing with my tapering. So, yeah, we are currently packaging up all of these boxes of stuff going all around the world to like Australia, off to France, got some to Spain and Italy and America, and of course the UK as well. So anyone that's bought a hat, thank you very much. They will be in the post first thing tomorrow morning and it will be on its way to you. So, yeah, we've got to get cracking on with these. We've got about another ten to do before we go to bed. And, yeah, really, really grateful for all the support. And, yeah, if you like this kind of video, a thumbs up. And if you don't subscribe already, down below. And, yeah, let me know what sort of tapering tips work for you. And, yeah, for all those people that have sent me some messages about Valencia and things, thank you so much. And look forward to seeing some of you guys out in Valencia as well. So, yeah, we'll be back in the next couple of days with the next vlog, which is just going to be all about sort of kit, amusing and things and a bit of travel on our way to Spain. So thanks very much for following along, guys, and I will see you in the next vlog. Transcribed by https://otter.ai