Who’s tapering?

As mentioned in my last update, I have finally made a decision about October 9th and the Victoria Half Marathon. At the time, I mentioned my decision involves cowbell, and that I was not yet regretting the decision.

Some things have stayed the same. Some things have changed.

What has not changed is the cowbell. I have decided to sit the race out this year and I am sticking to that decision (no matter how incredibly hard it may be to stand on the sidelines this Sunday). My role will be that of "clothing sherpa" for all of my family members who are running, and also “number one cheerleader” (this is a self-appointed title of course).

What has changed is the regret. I am definitely starting to feel a little envious of everyone as they head into their taper week and gear up for the big day.

I’m really going to miss going to pick up my race packet and wander through the expo (although, I will still go to the expo, it just won’t be the same). No doubt, I will miss the nervous excitement as race day approaches and the pre-race carbo-load. Heck, I’ll even miss the achy legs on Sunday evening post-race.

That said, I do believe I have made the right decision.

Something that helped me with this decision was a pretty good chat I had with Kelly about a month ago. With his help, I was able to weigh the pros and cons of doing the race this year. It was close, but in the end, the fact that my desire to race wasn’t there and my heart wasn’t truly in it, won out. I don’t have to do something just because I’ve always done it, right?

Now, all that said, during this conversation, one thing that came up was the fact that I feel pretty confident that I could go out and run a PB at this race (which is definitely one of the reasons the decision to NOT race is so soo hard). Deep in my gut, I know I could go faster than last year.

So why don’t I run? Why don’t I prove it?

I've been asking myself this question a lot, but I suppose it comes down to the fact that I don’t feel like I need to prove it to myself... and why should it matter to anyone else? My goal for this past season was to get faster. I accomplished that and with this accomplishment came renewed confidence in my ability. I think that is a pretty good thing.

Also, I feel like by sitting this race out and watching, by allowing the envy and excitement to fill my body, my desire to get back into a regular training routine will be sparked.

Make sense? I dunno, I guess I’m just rambling now.

So, long story short, if you are running any event (8k, Half, Full) at the Victoria Marathon this weekend, look for me on the sidelines! I’ve recruited a small gaggle of girls (and possibly Ash) to join me. There will be cowbell, lots of WOO-WOOs and even perhaps some pom-poms and foam fingers. Yeah, that’s right – foam fingers!

Soooo, in closing... GOOD LUCK to all the lucky folks who are racing this weekend!!!!


p.s. As a major aside, the recent decision by the IAAF to only recognize women's marathon world records when set in all-women competitions is absolutely crazy to me (you can view a couple article’s about this here and here). I think it is awful that they can suddenly decide Paula Radcliffe’s world record is no longer that.

Maybe I don’t truly understand the rules around pacers, but my initial reaction is that this completely belittles her accomplishments, and in doing so, also sends a bad message to women in sport.

It simply just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

That said, I'm a good listener, so if anyone has a good argument for why this is a great new rule, please feel free to shed some light on it for me.