Race Prep PSY 212 - Taper Madness

PSY 212 is a required course.

Taper Madness - Dealing with antsy behavior

Inevitably there is a time during your taper when you begin to feel rested and full of energy. Your workouts are shorter, you have time off, and all of a sudden you don't know what to do with all of your excess energy. You might start to feel little muscle twinges and you immediately fear injury has occured. Loved ones may behave as if they are annoyed...they are. You have been MIA during the hard part of your training, and now you are around all of the time with all of your energy. Your loved ones are wondering why you don't have somewhere to be already.

So, what do you do to deal with all of your antsy behavior? Definitely don't go for another run or go to the gym. You still need to rest. Don't start a new gardening project. Don't clean the garage. If you feel you must do some household chores, set a time limit of an hour and do something productive like clean out your closet of worn out running shoes and old race shirts.

Mostly, you need to rest. Here are some other ideas to fill your time...
-go see a movie (or two)
-start a new book (or just go browse the bookstore for an hour)
-rediscover some of your favorite music from the past (but don't hurt yourself dancing too much!)
-begin planning your next vacation
-brush your animals
-go get a manicure or pedicure (or both)
-blog
-call someone you haven't talked to in a while
-learn a new runner-friendly recipe