Taper start! Coast Marathon 2 weeks out!

Taper is here! This means dail back on volume and keep the same intensity! That way I will be fully recovered and race ready for the Coast Marathon Nationaal Park Hollandse Duinen which will be hosted in 2 weeks on 7th of feb!

My taper plan:

After last weeks 101 km peak, I decided to go for a decent taper. Which will see me reduce my weekly kilometers quite a bit! This week for example should end at roughly 65km which will be further reduced next week!
Tapering is an art that is hard to master, it comes hand in hand with both rest/recovery and self doubts (was it enough, should I do one extra) for me personally it could also create a down feeling (most likely next week) as I will miss the serotonine quite a bit. Knowning yourself is the key to prepare for that. Doing less is more at this phase!

Coast marathon ambitions
While I realize that this is not a pr race, I am also very competitive so my main challenge will be to just enjoy the run and not force myself to a fast time as the loose sand is not suitable for that - and it would hinder my sub 3 ambitions later this year. Having the experience of last year, I expect to be better in dosing my pace and have as sole goal to be slightly faster than last year. (Photos from my race last year!)

Today’s recovery run | taper day 1

I sticked to the plan both in duration aswell as in heartrate zone. Most of the run I was in the bottom half of zone 2, which is effortless. Later today I will do some mobility as my hamstring is still noticable (without any real concerns).

Today’s run was filled with sun. Which is an awesome way to start the day!