I always struggle with the balance between feeling fresh and ready to race and feeling stale from resting too much. I think I tapered too much for London Marathon this year; hence I have been reducing any taper prior to races since then. It can be risky because just a few days out from a race I feel fatigued and not race fit. So far, however, I have raced well this year on a ‘mini taper’.
My dilemma now is squeezing the training in that I need to get me in shape for the World Champs in Holland and also taper for races. During July, this has been difficult! Since the Inter-Services Triathlon Champs last Wednesday (which was quite a hard race) the key sessions have been a long run, a long open water swim, a long bike and a run with some 30 sec bursts to wake the legs up……….. I am now officially fatigued.
Today my legs were very heavy. With the Trentham Big Half Ironman to race on Sunday, my fatigued state could be good or bad. I am now into a mini taper and if I perk up by Sunday then I will have bagged some good sessions for Almere and a decent race (hopefully). I may do a 10 mile bike TT on Wednesday to test the legs but I should recover from that exertion ok by Sunday. I will need to be at my best to hold off the fast improving Jason Walkley! I am not impressed with a 4 lap swim as I am sure the faster swimmers will lap me!
My dilemma now is squeezing the training in that I need to get me in shape for the World Champs in Holland and also taper for races. During July, this has been difficult! Since the Inter-Services Triathlon Champs last Wednesday (which was quite a hard race) the key sessions have been a long run, a long open water swim, a long bike and a run with some 30 sec bursts to wake the legs up……….. I am now officially fatigued.
Today my legs were very heavy. With the Trentham Big Half Ironman to race on Sunday, my fatigued state could be good or bad. I am now into a mini taper and if I perk up by Sunday then I will have bagged some good sessions for Almere and a decent race (hopefully). I may do a 10 mile bike TT on Wednesday to test the legs but I should recover from that exertion ok by Sunday. I will need to be at my best to hold off the fast improving Jason Walkley! I am not impressed with a 4 lap swim as I am sure the faster swimmers will lap me!
1 comment:
And it's different for different people based on a number of factors. This year I've found that having a complete day off 2 days before seems to work for me, and then do something very short and sharp the day before. The bottom line is that you maintain effort but reduce the duration during taper; you should finish every session feeling like you can do more. You're racing middle distance next Sunday so a 10 mile TT on Wednesday should be OK (indeed, I may even join you) depending on what you are planning for Thursday through to Saturday.
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