Good Sports

by Budd Glassberg

Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times Sentinel on May 30, 2007

This Tortoise Has No Hair

“Slow but steady wins the race” - Aesop

Training for an ultramarathon involves a lot of running. I usually enjoy the long runs and varied workouts leading up to the two weeks prior to race day. Typically, it is wise to finish the hard training with a couple of weeks of taper. The length of and amount of taper varies depending on the race in question. I have found that decreasing my mileage the final two weeks before a race allows me to begin the event with fresh legs and it often improves my time for the distance as well. Unfortunately, tapering is always difficult for me. It increases my hyperactivity, makes me restless and interferes with my sleep at night. It is the equivalent of taking medicine. I don’t like it, but I know it is good for me.

Now in the midst of a taper for my 12 hour run that will take place on June 2, I had cut my mileage in thirds last week and will halve that distance this week. During this time, I try to keep the intensity of my workouts as usual with only the amounts decreasing. After each workout, I do not get the satisfaction of that good, tired feeling that makes me so content. It feels almost like coming in to a familiar room where something in it has changed. You just don’t feel like it is right. Something appears to be missing.

The pent up energy is always on the surface ready to spring forward, but the taper requires it to remain in tact. Taper theory is that all of this bottled up potential will be released on race day with beneficial results. I used to challenge the theory in my case, with the thought that the sleeplessness caused by the tapering offsets the fresh legs it provided. I am sorry to admit that empirical evidence has shown that when I taper, I run faster on race day.

The absolute most difficult part of the taper is the final two days. By that time, I am only running a very short distance at a very slow pace just to keep my muscles moving. The short workout does nothing to scratch the itch to run. Thursday and Friday of this week are those final two days. I will be miserable.

When race day finally comes, there is a natural tendency to want to let go and run at onset of the race. Like a race horse with a smart jockey aboard, the horse must be held back to keep it from flaming out in the early stages of the race. This is where a well thought out race plan is invaluable. I believe that an ultra race is often won or lost in the first mile after the start. Even in a race greater than 50 miles, allowing you the pleasure of running by feeling may spell doom in the second half of the race.

As I have mentioned to the middle school runners I have coached, everyone feels good at the start of a race. It is the patient runner with a plan, who is often able to outrun someone of greater ability who races without purpose or intent. I will walk the first twenty minutes of my race on Saturday. It is the only way I can guarantee that I will not get carried away in the competitive moment of the start of the race and go out too fast for the distance.

Ultra races are unique in that they may mimic the fable of the tortoise and the hare. I have run in enough races to know that there will be many runners who unknowingly will take the part of the hare. They will tear off at the start really believing that it is important to bank a bunch of time before they slow down. The two minutes per mile they bank early on is more than offset by the death march pace they must grind out ten hours later.

For some, it is the taper itself that moves the runner to go out too fast early in the race. The speed just feels so right, how could it be wrong? This is there where the most important part of tapering lies. Without a great amount of patience at the beginning of the race, the taper could prove more of a liability than an asset. I am not willing to squander two weeks of suffering through the taper by running too fast at the start of the race, only because it would feel good to do so.

As I watch the hares take off on Saturday, I will wish them well and say to them with confidence, “See you later.”

Budd Glassberg is a resident of Zionsville who is active in the local running community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.