Sport Psych Team 2011, Mankato Marathon Expo
Psychological Experiences of Marathoners During the Taper
Inspired by this Runner’s World article called Taper Time , we are conducting one of the only studies examining the psychological experiences of marathoners during the taper period. We know very little scientifically about runners’ experiences.
The taper is when marathoners reduce their intensity and volume of training which usually occurs between 3-4 weeks before the marathon. There are physiological benefits of the taper such as increased VO2 max, increased muscular strength, increased peak lactate tolerance, and increased muscle glycogen levels (Stevenson, 2011), but how to marathoner perceive the taper and what are their experience like? For example, one online running blog (fellrnr.blogspot.com), uses the term “taper psychosis” to describe the doubt and uncertainty produced by reducing the volume and intensity of training before running a marathon. According to Stevenson (2010), one of the main reason marathoners are reluctant to taper is a belief they will lose their hard earned training despite evidence based benefits.
Therefore, we are interviewing marathoners who are competing in the Houston and Sugarland Marathons in the month of January, 2012. Qualitative data will be gathered through the use of semi-structured phone interviews at one week pre-race and one week post-race to explore the psychological aspects of the taper as the runner is going through the process.
Stay tuned for some exciting results that will guide future interventions with runners during the taper period.
Members of the 2011-2012 Research Team: Eric Watson (Lead Graduate Student), Karsten Anderson Amanda Eggebrecht, Marc Feldbrugge, Mark Hartman, David Williams, Jeff Thomae (Sport and Exercise Psychology Faculty Member), and Dr. Kamphoff ((Sport and Exercise Psychology Faculty Member).
