And the taper begins...

We are into the taper for our Mississauga marathon.
I skipped the speedwork last night -- our last hard workout before the taper. We had 10 Yasso-800's planned. I am battling various strains in my hips area. Usually it is the psoas and low back, but last Sunday on the long run my right TFL wore the brunt of the effort. Problems are stemming from imbalances that I need to work on once this marathon is out of the way - imbalances in strength ratios between glutes and other hip stabilizers. I am glad to have identified the issues, because now we can zero in on them and get stronger for the future, but all in all it is a bit of a setback. Hence, I started my taper early and it is a recovery/taper. Well, a taper is a recovery, but you know what I mean. And this basically happened because I had a couple of weeks of 5-6 days running and higher mileage than what I was able to handle at that time. Ohhhh, typical Jen, bit off more than she could chew. It's tough, though, as my cardio and motivation could certainly take on the load, but the imbalances in my hips were pushed to the limit and reared their ugly head. But as my chiropractor said to me, "If I truly wanted to find out what was wrong with a person's body, I would ask him to run as far as he could until he broke. Then I'd know. You have done that for me!" And I am not truly broken, I toned it down and caught it all early enough, so I am feeling ok about where I am . Everything is a learning cure -- at least for me. And I am going to finish this marathon -- there is no question about that.

Kathy is prepped and in a good place for this race, too. We are TEN days out!!!!!

I have been asked to be a co-leader for the marathon training group at the Running Room for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. I am excited to encourage others to reach their goals and to re-commit into the fall. Every step of this journey is a learning experience. You learn so much about yourself, your body, your mind.