In the week or two (or three) before a long distance race, most training plans call for a "taper." Weekly and daily mileage is slowly reduced over the days leading up to the race. This helps avoid injury and keeps your body and legs fresh to enable a maximum effort on race day.The article in the WSJ refers to the use of "taper" as a description of the Federal Reserve's actions to reduce the monetary stimulus that has been in place since the Great Recession. But what I found most interesting was the origin of the word itself:
As a noun, "taper" goes all the way back to Old English, originally referring to a wax candle. (It's unclear where the word came from, but like "paper" it might be rooted in Latin "papyrus," since candlewicks were often made from papyrus.)
The gradual melting down of a candle encouraged a shift from noun to verb, as "tapering" came to mean "growing smaller" or "decreasing in intensity." Often "taper" has been combined with a preposition: "taper off," "taper down," "taper away." Starting in the 19th century, "tapering off" could be used to talk about cutting down on alcohol consumption by drinking less and less each day. "If I could only taper off on a pint a day, for a year or so, I think I might come round in time," says a character trying to get sober in an 1848 James Fenimore Cooper novel.The Rochester Half Marathon is tomorrow, and I've been tapering for the last week or so. It's been strange to go from running close to 30 miles a week to less than 20. I've had an urge to get back out and run several times this week but I've had to keep myself from doing so. I would never have expected that reaction when I began training back in January!
Less than 24 hours before the race and my body feels great, my legs feel fresh, and I hope to take down the 2:15 mark, or at the very least, improve on my personal record of 2:27.
What's your experience with tapering? Let me know in the comments below!
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