I raced at PNA Champs near Seattle this weekend and all of my times were much slower than last year even though I trained for 11 months straight (Masters swim 3 days/week, weight lifting 2-3 days/week, with some cross-country skiing and biking on weekends). I stopped lifting 2 weeks prior to the meet but I swam up until Thursday before the Sat/Sun meet. Mostly did sprints on the Tues-Thur swims before the meet, about 2k meters all-up vs 3k meters for a normal workout. Plenty of sleep time. But I felt tired during the meet and ran out of energy on most events (200/500 yd free, 50/100/200 ***). Age = 51.
Should I have tapered more? I have no idea what caused my fatigue.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Seattle Jack
I raced at PNA Champs near Seattle this weekend and all of my times were much slower than last year even though I trained for 11 months straight (Masters swim 3 days/week, weight lifting 2-3 days/week, with some cross-country skiing and biking on weekends). I stopped lifting 2 weeks prior to the meet but I swam up until Thursday before the Sat/Sun meet. Mostly did sprints on the Tues-Thur swims before the meet, about 2k meters all-up vs 3k meters for a normal workout. Plenty of sleep time. But I felt tired during the meet and ran out of energy on most events (200/500 yd free, 50/100/200 ***). Age = 51.
Should I have tapered more? I have no idea what caused my fatigue.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Seattle Jack
Jack,
How have your swim and weight workouts gone over this past year? Have you been able to lift the same or better sets? This would indicate what's going on with muscles. Also, what about swim reps/sets in the pool? Have you been holding times or better? If the answers are yes weights and swims are holding or better, then it was either just a tough meet (as an adult, there are lots of personal things impacting how i feel and swim) or not enough taper. Below is summarized information about tapering from:
Complete Conditioning for Swimming:
Taper (Salo and Riewald)
Basically, it won't make up for poor training (although some may wish so), one to three weeks typically, typ. longer for sprinters esp. using HIT and shorter for distance swimmers (adjust to previious workload), reduce the volume of swimming gradually but not the intensity (maintaining intensity is critical), it's a catchup time and not a time for additional training, females typically need less time than males, older swimmers need more time than younger, don't keep eating as if you were swimming the same volume, taper may or may not improve "feel" for the water so don't expect it, and don't be surprised if you feel sluggish in the middle of it as your body catches up with the workload.
:
Taper (Salo and Riewald)
Basically, it won't make up for poor training (although some may wish so), one to three weeks typically, typ. longer for sprinters esp. using HIT and shorter for distance swimmers (adjust to previious workload), reduce the volume of swimming gradually but not the intensity (maintaining intensity is critical), it's a catchup time and not a time for additional training, females typically need less time than males, older swimmers need more time than younger, don't keep eating as if you were swimming the same volume, taper may or may not improve "feel" for the water so don't expect it, and don't be surprised if you feel sluggish in the middle of it, as your body catches up with the workload.
Lastly, from Friel's book on tri training, he mentions that when you reach middle age (what ever that is, but 51 sounds close :D), you inevitably begin to lose muscle mass. Fairly recently they've discovered that one of the primary reasons this happens is because of increased kidney function with age (you pee more) and that increases the loss of Nitrogen, which is critical for muscle retention and development. Friel indicates that you can slow the losss of nitrogen down by eating more alkaline foods (generally fruits and veggies) and eating less acidic foods (some proteins). Not all foods in these groups are alike, and of course you need to eat the proper amounts of protein, fats, and carbs for training. If I can copy/pdf the table of food alkaline/acidic indicies, I'll attach when i get a chance.
I raced at PNA Champs near Seattle this weekend and all of my times were much slower than last year even though I trained for 11 months straight (Masters swim 3 days/week, weight lifting 2-3 days/week, with some cross-country skiing and biking on weekends). I stopped lifting 2 weeks prior to the meet but I swam up until Thursday before the Sat/Sun meet. Mostly did sprints on the Tues-Thur swims before the meet, about 2k meters all-up vs 3k meters for a normal workout. Plenty of sleep time. But I felt tired during the meet and ran out of energy on most events (200/500 yd free, 50/100/200 ***). Age = 51.
Should I have tapered more? I have no idea what caused my fatigue.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Seattle Jack
Jack,
How have your swim and weight workouts gone over this past year? Have you been able to lift the same or better sets? This would indicate what's going on with muscles. Also, what about swim reps/sets in the pool? Have you been holding times or better? If the answers are yes weights and swims are holding or better, then it was either just a tough meet (as an adult, there are lots of personal things impacting how i feel and swim) or not enough taper. Below is summarized information about tapering from:
Complete Conditioning for Swimming:
Taper (Salo and Riewald)
Basically, it won't make up for poor training (although some may wish so), one to three weeks typically, typ. longer for sprinters esp. using HIT and shorter for distance swimmers (adjust to previious workload), reduce the volume of swimming gradually but not the intensity (maintaining intensity is critical), it's a catchup time and not a time for additional training, females typically need less time than males, older swimmers need more time than younger, don't keep eating as if you were swimming the same volume, taper may or may not improve "feel" for the water so don't expect it, and don't be surprised if you feel sluggish in the middle of it as your body catches up with the workload.
:
Taper (Salo and Riewald)
Basically, it won't make up for poor training (although some may wish so), one to three weeks typically, typ. longer for sprinters esp. using HIT and shorter for distance swimmers (adjust to previious workload), reduce the volume of swimming gradually but not the intensity (maintaining intensity is critical), it's a catchup time and not a time for additional training, females typically need less time than males, older swimmers need more time than younger, don't keep eating as if you were swimming the same volume, taper may or may not improve "feel" for the water so don't expect it, and don't be surprised if you feel sluggish in the middle of it, as your body catches up with the workload.
Lastly, from Friel's book on tri training, he mentions that when you reach middle age (what ever that is, but 51 sounds close :D), you inevitably begin to lose muscle mass. Fairly recently they've discovered that one of the primary reasons this happens is because of increased kidney function with age (you pee more) and that increases the loss of Nitrogen, which is critical for muscle retention and development. Friel indicates that you can slow the losss of nitrogen down by eating more alkaline foods (generally fruits and veggies) and eating less acidic foods (some proteins). Not all foods in these groups are alike, and of course you need to eat the proper amounts of protein, fats, and carbs for training. If I can copy/pdf the table of food alkaline/acidic indicies, I'll attach when i get a chance.
