Ironman Taper - What Do You Do?

I read this article:

Endurance
Endurance, on the other hand, is gained much more rapidly. A big factor in endurance—especially Ironman endurance—is the body learning how to burn energy more economically so that race intensity can be sustained longer. This is a primal survival trait that is deeply rooted in our genes. Because of it, if we were put in a situation where our survival was threatened due to a lack of endurance (i.e. food was scarce and we had to travel a long way to hunt), our body would adjust quickly.


Your level of endurance can make a big difference in the final miles of the Ironman marathon. Photo: Delly Carr
This ability to gain endurance rapidly, though, comes with the caveat that we also lose it just as swiftly. This is a major reason why the three-week taper fails for Ironman. We know from experience that we start to see a decline in endurance ability within seven to 10 days.

That’s why the endurance part of training must be maintained until seven to 10 days out from race day.

In the last few weeks before a race you need to structure your training to maximize endurance and maintain strength and speed gains. You don’t need to hammer out long sessions every day to do develop peak endurance; a weekly long ride and long run are enough Nor do you need to perform a large amount of speed and strength training to maintain the speed and strength you developed earlier in the training cycle.

Timeline
More specifically, this is how your training should look in the crucial last weeks before an Ironman:

Six to eight weeks out: Decrease the quantity of speed and strength work.

Six weeks out: Increase race speed-specific workouts

Four to six weeks out: Shift your focus to endurance.

Ten to 14 days out: Last endurance race-specific effort (3-hour bike/ 40-minute run).

Seven to 10 days out: Last long endurance sessions—ride and run. This is about volume, not intensity, so keep it all easy.

As you head into the final week before race day, I recommend frequent 20- to 40-minute sessions in all three disciplines. The aim here is to maintain neuromuscular pathways, which is basically the brain’s memory system of which muscle fibers it needs to activate in order to perform certain activities, and to perform those activities at certain speeds.

This memory in the brain tends to drift after 48-72 hours without stimulation, so you never want to go longer than 48 hours without repeating a single-sport training session.

These sessions are all about maintaining feel. Mix in a little speed and a little strength work To keep your nervous system primed for maximal efforts.

Rest Days
I don’t recommend a complete day off during the final week before an Ironman. But if you must have one, then take it two days out from the race. Most endurance athletes will feel terrible the day after a rest day, as if something is not quite right. It takes the athlete’s body a day or so to get back into the groove.

In fact, the habit of taking a rest day the day before a race is the major reason triathletes so often feel a little bit off on race day. That said, taking a rest day before an Ironman really is a personal thing, and you can only know from experience whether you gain or lose from it. You are better off scheduling a rest earlier in the week if it usually takes you a few days to feel normal again.

On the final day before the race, do a 10-minute routine in each discipline to make sure that everything is set for race day. This is a little test drive for your body but also for your race equipment—check your gears, goggles, wetsuit, etc. Once that is completed, you’re ready to go!

Any thoughts?