Survival Guide for Anyone Dealing with a Distance Runner During Their Taper

I was reminded that when I’m in my last week of my taper for a big race, I have a few more ‘isms’ than normal.  I have recently started dating someone that is new to this whole world of crazy ultra people, so I figured that I would do him (and anyone else that deals with one of us whack-a-doodles) a favor and put together a mini survival guide.

Here are 4 things to know when you are dealing with someone that is in the last week of their taper for a long distance running event:

1 – Sleep trumps everything.  You could be the most handsome, awesome person in the world, and promise me the best night out I’ve ever experienced…. but I’ll pass it up to be asleep before 9pm.

2 – Ask before you eat anything in my kitchen.  I have superstitious food I eat leading up to a race, which I buy days in advance.  If I find that any of my super special food items are gone… no one’s safe.

3 – Don’t do any cleaning up.  I will start to set all my race gear out on counters/tables/everywhere starting 5 days before the race.  Don’t ‘clean up’ and put them away – I’ll lose my mind.

4 – Be at the finish line with a hug, something salty to eat, and depending on the weather, a warm sweatshirt or a really cold beer.  Then listen to my verbal replay of the race like it’s actually interesting, and I’ll love you forever.