The Taper

As I've been promising for the last week or so, I'm finally going to talk about my taper that I've been doing for the past few weeks in preparation for Spartan Race next Saturday.  I can honestly say it's going awesome.  Below is a video of me breaking my personal squat record.  I do 205 in this video for 5 reps.  This is my final set after doing 2 sets of 185 for 10 and another set of 195 for 10. 

Overall, I'm really happy about how I'm feeling right now.  I just feel stronger all around.  Every weight I lift feels lighter.  I can do more pullups.  I can push more weight with my shoulder and bench presses.  My deadlift has gone up.  I just feel fresher and ready for Spartan.  It's tempting to try and push more weight, but I've been resisting because I don't want to burn myself out.  I am a little afraid that I might be sacrificing my cardiovascular conditioning, but I ran 8 miles last Saturday with little problem.
The natural question is, if I'm still working out so much, what have I tapered.  Well, in the last 3 weeks I've literally cut my running load in half.  It's weird not running so much.  Every time I get home from a run that's shorter than six miles I feel like I have somehow cheated.  I'm pretty confident that my stamina is going to be there when I need it next weekend. I've also slightly altered my diet to help deal with my gut issues.

I've cut back on my dairy intake by switching from regular milk to soy milk.  I'm still using whey, but mixing it with the new milk.  I've also stopped using cheese on my sandwiches and dressing with my vegetables.  I've noticed a slight difference.  I also paid a visit to the local vitamin store.  The meat head behind the counter suggested that I might be suffering from a glutamine deficit during my runs.  So, I've added a small dosage of glutamine to my regular supplementation regimen.  Both seem to be working, but I'll have a better idea of how well they're working on Saturday when I do my last run of the training cycle.

Overall, as difficult as this training has been, I have enjoyed it for the most part.  I've discovered more about my body and training than I ever thought possible.  I learned all kinds of little things that have helped increased my endurance and form which, in turn, has helped me to enjoy the experience a lot more.  It's been a bit of a journey of self discovery these past few months.  I only hope that I'm not leaving my best in the gym or on the road.  I hope to continue down this path and push my physical limits after I have completed Spartan.

I've already set my next goals, I'll be running the 10K Rogue Runner Obstacle Race (http://www.roguerunnerrace.com/) in October.  I'm also on the fence about whether or not I'll attempt my first half marathon.  My plan is to get into beast mode and do the Baltimore Half Marathon (http://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/) the week before Rogue Runner.  That will probably end my race season for the year.  That's all for today.  Kind of a boring update this time around, maybe next time I'll get into something more exciting next time.  As always, train hard, have fun and be safe.