Taper Time Changes

Well, it's official--the taper is here! Technically my Boston taper started last week but with the Cherry Blossom race, a midweek medium long run, and a track workout, it didn't feel like a light week.  This week's drop in mileage, however, should be a whole lot more noticeable.

Now that I'm cutting back my mileage, I've made some other changes in my routine to make sure I'm at my best on Marathon Monday.

1. More Sleep - I'm usually pretty good at getting a full night's sleep on weeknights, but come weekends I let myself stay up later. From now until the race, however, I'm sticking to an early bedtime. Having an established routine will help come the night before when I'm desperately trying to fall asleep.

2. More Vegetables - I do eat a lot of vegetables already, but during the taper I try and replace more carbs and fats with vegetables. Since I'm not running 70 miles, I don't need the same amount of food. I find I eat more sensibly when I just temporarily replace some other foods with fruits and veggies.

3. No Alcohol - Starting three weeks out I cut out all booze. This serves two real purposes, it helps me keep caloric intake in check as I cut down my mileage and it helps me get more or at least better sleep.

4. Dialing Down Cross-Training - Cutting back on running doesn't mean anything if I just pick up the intensity on cross-training. I usually cut out cross-training two weeks before and cut out strength training one week before.

All my trameframes listed above are subjective. They're what has worked for me in the past so I'm sticking to them this cycle. If you've got different changes that you make, or different schedules for incorporating similar changes, I'd love to hear them!
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Today's Run: 9.1 at 7:56 pace.