Dealing With Taper Pains

Dealing With Taper Pains

Joe Simko P.T.

Fit For Life Physical Therapy

Race day is quickly approaching.  All the long runs are done and now comes the most challenging part of training…the taper.  Reduced mileage and decreased intensity can cause anxiousness and worry that fitness is being lost.  Every small ache and pain can seem to be a major obstacle to achieving your race day goal.  The key to solving the tapering blues is to relax, enjoy the extra energy you have found, and ignore the small aches that pop up with rest.  

Now is a great time to focus on stretching and reduce the strengthening part of your training program.  Below are a couple of stretches that can help improve mobility and safely expend the nervous energy that comes with less running. 

Hamstring Stretch – While lying on your back, bend your knee and grab behind your thigh with both hands.  Tuck your knee in towards your chest.  Straighten your knee up towards the ceiling; you should feel a stretch behind your thigh.  Hold for 10 seconds, then relax and let your knee bend.  Keep your hands behind your thigh and repeat.  Perform 10 times. 

Piriformis Stretch – While lying on your back, grab your knee with the hand on the same side, and grab your shin with your other hand.  Pull your knee diagonally towards the opposite shoulder.  When you feel a stretch in the hip, gently pull the shin to “twist” the hip until you feel a deeper stretch.  Hold for 10 seconds and release.  Keep your hands in the same position and repeat.  Perform 10 times.

Maintaining flexibility in your hips allows you to run more efficiently, improves your cadence, and often reduces the frequency of overuse injuries.  These stretching recommendations reflect some of the basics about avoiding taper pains.  

As always, should you be experiencing more painful symptoms, seek medical advice.  

Fit For Life Physical Therapy cares for people of all activity levels - to help prevent, recover from, or rehabilitate sports & orthopedic injuries.  We are proud to move people every day.

Please visit our website https://www.fitforlifephysicaltherapy.com/, email us at info@fitforlifephysicaltherapy.com, or call or text us at any of the phone numbers for our three convenient locations inside Fleet Feet/FrontRunner stores:

Polaris:  1270 East Powell Road Lewis Center, Ohio 43035 ~ 614-981-2065

Upper Arlington:  1344 West Lane Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43221 ~ 614-981-1979

New Albany:  5792 North Hamilton Road, Columbus, Ohio 43230 ~ 614-581-7441