Tapers

RE: Tapers

knelson — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:15:50 GMT

4) Some swimmers lie (related to above). I hear a lot at meets, usually in the female locker room, "Oh, I haven't been training much." These people will then proceed to do well and/or break records. Yea, right, not training much. I think that often-times these people are just playing mind games. I agree. I think these people also tend to sandbag their seed times. And I'm not talking about tactical sandbagging because they are swimming the next event or something--I'm talking about people who just always enter with times they must know they are going to destroy.

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:06:42 GMT

I ordered Restwise and received it in the mail along with my pulse oximeter. I decided that I am not interested enough in competitive training anymore to actually follow the plan. You need to wear a HR monitor to bed so you can wake up and know your HR; you need to know your pulse and SpO2 right when you wake up; look at the color of your pee, yadda yadda. I decided that after being pregnant 4 times and having swum for 30 years I already know my body. I bet most lifelong swimmers can tell their pulse and HR just as well as they know their repeat times before even touching the wall. I am not criticizing RW at all. I just don't think it is the thing for me, esp now since I've stopped "swimming". I don't think that program would work for me either. I'm rather a creative, intuitive type and that kind of regiment would kill the fun factor for me.

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:21:35 GMT

4)If you do not know 100% that you will perform, then no matter what training/tapering you've done, you will not perform. It's that simple. Any negative self talk will decimate your efforts. You have to be so positively self-focused at meets, and not worry about anything else. I can recall at meets actually sitting behind the blocks and yawning before a race. I got life best times. I was so confident and mentally prepared that to actually swim the race was a mere formality. In the past I have visualized a goal time (100 Br) on the Colorado board and did that exact time TWICE in 2 months. The mind is powerful. I have felt many different ways during different good races. Usually, I'm happy and lighthearted when I swim well, but I had a serious and distressing conflict with an individual before a nationals recently and got almost all best times. I think where I don't have confidence is about conditions. Cold is what gets me and I lose my confidence under those conditions because I have never gotten a best time cold.

RE: Tapers

jaadams1 — Sat, 12 May 2012 06:05:41 GMT

I agree. I think these people also tend to sandbag their seed times. And I'm not talking about tactical sandbagging because they are swimming the next event or something--I'm talking about people who just always enter with times they must know they are going to destroy. FYI Kirk...I entered with all my masters BEST TIMES in Canada next weekend. :canada: No sandbagging here!! ...though I plan to beat my times! :banana:

RE: Tapers

Betsy — Fri, 11 May 2012 06:00:01 GMT

RE: Tapers

Karen Duggan — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:26:22 GMT

Greetings- I saw Brian Stack at the pool the other day and he told me that Cokie mentioned me and Restwise. Many things going on that require explanation: 1) I am now swimming laps for pleasure. I quit WCM after 19 years and so far do not intend to return. 2) I ordered Restwise and received it in the mail along with my pulse oximeter. I decided that I am not interested enough in competitive training anymore to actually follow the plan. You need to wear a HR monitor to bed so you can wake up and know your HR; you need to know your pulse and SpO2 right when you wake up; look at the color of your pee, yadda yadda. I decided that after being pregnant 4 times and having swum for 30 years I already know my body. I bet most lifelong swimmers can tell their pulse and HR just as well as they know their repeat times before even touching the wall. I am not criticizing RW at all. I just don't think it is the thing for me, esp now since I've stopped "swimming". 3) I could never figure out tapers either. I have learned 2 important "nuggets" though. Men require more rest than women, generally, because they have more muscle mass; and two, swimming/tapering is 100% mental. I have run the gamut as far as 'not trained enough' to 'completely overtrained' (313,000 yds in March) before Nationals. One thing was consistent though, and that was my attitude. (Over the past few years my attitude has sucked and that's why I've swum poorly. *please note that few people knew of my sucky attitude, as I very much kept it to myself- I have never been known as a "downer teammate"- I have always supported everyone on my team, and others = ] 4)If you do not know 100% that you will perform, then no matter what training/tapering you've done, you will not perform. It's that simple. Any negative self talk will decimate your efforts. You have to be so positively self-focused at meets, and not worry about anything else. I can recall at meets actually sitting behind the blocks and yawning before a race. I got life best times. I was so confident and mentally prepared that to actually swim the race was a mere formality. In the past I have visualized a goal time (100 Br) on the Colorado board and did that exact time TWICE in 2 months. The mind is powerful. 4) Some swimmers lie (related to above). I hear a lot at meets, usually in the female locker room, "Oh, I haven't been training much." These people will then proceed to do well and/or break records. Yea, right, not training much. I think that often-times these people are just playing mind games. Or if they say they haven't been training and then do well people will think, "Wow, they are really talented." Lame. So, that's why I have never been caught up in what other people are doing. I have to know that I can perform. I only get one lane to swim in, I can't be physically in my lane and mentally in someone else's. That's ridiculous. For now I have lost the passion to train and race, however I still love the water. I am cross-training and swimming a few thousand a few times/week. (I've been using the workouts from Eric and Leslie on-line. LOVE THESE WORKOUTS! I adapt as needed for time restrictions.) I have zero meet goals and I swim when I want to. I am not stressed about getting to workout, not stressed in the water, and I am so happy when I get out of the water. I have really had to challenge myself, when a tough set comes up because I could very easily loaf it or get out (since I'm alone). What I've found though is that I feel even more accomplished when I finish a hard workout because it was all me that did it. I do miss swimming "with" my teammates but I see them regularly in passing. I still go over and talk to Kerry and Mike occasionally, on deck, because I really miss them. Ultimately though, swimming with WCM was causing unneeded stress. I always thought my swimming should relieve stress, not give me more. I am finding peace with my decision more and more each day. That's a good thing for me and ultimately my family. I haven't been on the forums much, but I am on FB if anyone wants to keep in touch.

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Fri, 11 May 2012 02:31:35 GMT

Michael Heather, you really said it right! If we doubt our preparation, we will not do as well. All of my best races have been when I was confident that I had prepared correctly. Racing can be such a mind game. For me, being able to hit the correct time for the first 1/4 of the race gives me confidence in my taper. Additional yardage will not work within the last few weeks. Too many swimmers have fantastic times after a forced layoff. We can't discount rest. But you have to believe. Betsy, I hear what you and the others who commented right before you are saying, but my issue isn't that I don't believe tapering will work. I know I'm in outstanding shape. Tapering has worked very well for me before. It's just that now that I've been swimming Masters for awhile, the tapers are beginning to annoy me since I love to exercise and feel so good when I'm training that I don't like what it does to my personal and professional life when I'm doing almost nothing and feeling icky and grouchy. I think I will experiment with a 7 day taper next time (longer for weights) and see what happens. I'm seeking a place where I'm satisfied with the results as well as my frame-of-reference.

RE: Tapers

Former Member — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:36:13 GMT

Worrying is a non productive pastime. Believe in your training, plan for your performance, then execute. Couldn't agree more. The negative mind chatter that an individual sport like swimming causes can make it impossible to reach your goals. Create a plan and work your butt off, and then believe you have done all you possibly can. When it comes race day you'll have all the confidence in the world. 4 week taper for me has worked for the past 20 years

RE: Tapers

Michael Heather — Thu, 10 May 2012 09:01:00 GMT

I have always used a four week taper. Even without thorough season training, it works for most events up to 200 meters. In order for it to work, one must be absolutely sure that it will. I have never had the bitchies and don't understand why anyone would. If you are getting enough rest, the taper will work. As a for instance: All season long, I would post 1:03 - 1:05 for 100 butterfly, even as soon as 2 weeks before nationals. At nationals, I went 1:00.05. Because of the taper, but mostly because I believed in it. Worrying is a non productive pastime. Believe in your training, plan for your performance, then execute.

RE: Tapers

Water Rat — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:09:48 GMT

I'm a big believer now in a longer taper, up to 3 weeks. For me it's a gradual drop in yards, combined with a gradual increase in EZ swimming as a percentage of those yards. I dropped weights completely at 3 weeks too. I'm 44. I think it takes me longer to rebuild than someone in their 20s. I didn't feel rested/tapered/EZ speed until a day or two before Greensboro. In a normal week now, I swim from 3k to 3.5k per practice 5 days a week and lift weights 4 times per week. I go down to roughly half of that the week of the meet. I also drop morning practices completely to sleep in. It worked for me at Greensboro. I dropped on average 2 seconds per 100 from my in season times. I don't get the b*tchies so much as an increasing sense of anxiety and feeling unsettled. Like I have all this excess strength ready to burst. It's quite cool actually. When I was a kid, I remember pulling the interior door handle off my Dad's car on the way to a championship meet. Guess, I was ready then!

RE: Tapers

Former Member — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:43:38 GMT

RE: Tapers

That Guy — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:56:56 GMT

Conversely, I wish I could always taper! Like that guy who was profiled in the recent Swimmer who swims 2,000 yards, three days per week and is swimming fast. Now that would be awesome. :blush:

RE: Tapers

knelson — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:17:01 GMT

Conversely, I wish I could always taper! Like that guy who was profiled in the recent Swimmer who swims 2,000 yards, three days per week and is swimming fast. Now that would be awesome.

RE: Tapers

ande — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:03:18 GMT

I despise tapering so much, it sometimes makes me NOT want to compete anymore. I feel moody, tired, and depressed and worried about my races because I'm so used to being very active on a daily basis. I remember reading that Laura Val doesn't worry about a taper but the article had no details. Is there anyone else who has been able to perform really well without cutting way back on yardage? I would be interested in hearing what you do. "feeling moody, tired, and depressed and worried about my races" are the taper bitchies, they happen Which is why I wrote: SFF Tip 240 Test Your Taper Which I feel is the best way to prepare for big meets and not get all upset. Swim fast in practice and feel confident that you're likely to swim faster in meets. Don't think taper. Think like Rich Abrahams & call it Championship Performance Preparation Do what you need to do to perform to the best of your ability at your big meet Experiment try different approaches in different seasons. Make notes, notice outcomes. Figure out what works best for you. Worrying is just your internal dialog. It's the stuff you're saying to yourself. Switch the script. Write down a list of sentances and phrases you want to be true about you. Then ACT AS IF they already are true. Act as if you already are what you most want to be. when I asked a well known coach how much rest his swimmers need, he said, it depends how confident they are. your taper always depends on the months of training you did before it.

RE: Tapers

Chris Stevenson — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:51:23 GMT

I do different workouts on different days - IM, lactate, middle distance, sprint. I do know I recover most slowly from sprint workouts... I usually do 2600-3300 4 or 5 days a week and a lot of cross training. My preference would be to swim at least 1800 every day during "taper." That is about the minimum yardage for me to feel normal. Some random thoughts, hopefully something will help: -- Pure yardage is not always a reliable metric, I can see a taper that would consist of nearly the same amount of yardage that you normally do but that is more restful or has a different focus. (For example, I'll often do 3000 or more during one day of a meet...though a lot of that is easy swimming.) -- You didn't mention what you do with your cross-training during taper. Since that appears to be a good part of your normal exercise routine, you obviously need a taper plan for that too. Since the goal is to swim fast, I would venture to say that a good part of your taper may even be cutting back on and eventually eliminating your cross-training. -- If sprinting is what taxes you the most, you definitely need to cut back on it. Personally, I wouldn't do lactate work the week before your meet. Good luck.

RE: Tapers

gdanner — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:43:20 GMT

I usually do 2600-3300 4 or 5 days a week and a lot of cross training. My preference would be to swim at least 1800 every day during "taper." That is about the minimum yardage for me to feel normal. As cokie pointed out (and many others will attest), tapering/resting is highly individualized. In the ballpark of 2600-3300 yard workouts, I would peg you for a 3 day rest period. Mon - 3,300 Tues - 2,800 Wed - 2,000-2,500 (basically a normal practice, just shorten your main set a bit) Thurs - ~1,500 (meet warmup plus some 100's or 50's pace) Fri - ~1,000 (or meet warmup equivalent) Sat - Meet At the yardages you describe, you can quickly get back up to speed the following week. You could test that out at just about any meet and it's not going to ruin your training. However, you said you don't feel normal with less than 1,800 yards. If that truly is the case, I would suggest continuing with your normal practices except the day before the meet (do meet warmup) and reducing/eliminating any dryland work the same week of your meet.

RE: Tapers

Cokie — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:16:08 GMT

Hi Susan Tapering sure seems to be such an individual thing. I, too, have struggled through the years to find a taper that really fits me. While coaching at this Year's Walnut Creek Intensive Training Camp, I had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation by Restwise. I was super impressed with what they had to say. You might check them out at Restwise.com. They do a scientific approach to training and tapering, for triathletes, for swimmers, cyclists and runners. I know that swimmer Karen Duggan (active here on the forums) is trying them out on a 6-month subscription, so you could check in with her to see what she thinks.

RE: Tapers

Cokie — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:14:55 GMT

RE: Tapers

Cokie — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:14:01 GMT

RE: Tapers

orca1946 — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:10:30 GMT

More rest & less sore muscles will give you a better time in big meets. It may seem as if you are not doing enough, but if you have a good base it will work out for you .

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:00:05 GMT

I used to hate tapering as well. But it does yield results and hence I persist in my 3 week tapers. However, I agree that the lack of exercise can make the taper period a mental game with the taper b*tchies and worry. I have had very good luck with shorter drop tapers for in season meets. I'll lay off drylands 7-10 days before X meet and beginning on Monday decrease yardage from 3000-1500 and also decrease intensity. I laid down some pretty fast pre-nationals times using this approach and it definitely avoids the taper lunacy and makes meets more fun and relaxed. I did speak to Laura at Nationals. She said she did her usual 5000 the Monday before the meet started and just eased up a few days. Seems to work well for her! Thanks for your suggestions, Leslie. I think this "drop taper" is going to be what I'll try for a few meets so I don't feel so emotionally frazzled. I need to feel confident and in control to be able to race well. But I agree about the dryland - that definitely has to go at the end and that wastes my legs the most...

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:56:00 GMT

Conversely, I wish I could always taper! Like that guy who was profiled in the recent Swimmer who swims 2,000 yards, three days per week and is swimming fast. Now that would be awesome. Crazy thing, I got my fastest LC 100/200 breaststroke times the summer I got injured, was losing a family member to cancer, and could only fit in 3 swimming days a week. I taught a lot of fitness classes that summer, but other than that, it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:52:48 GMT

your taper always depends on the months of training you did before it. Thanks for all your feedback, Ande. What does that mean, exactly? That if you're in better shape, you don't have to cut back as drastically?

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:48:52 GMT

Some random thoughts, hopefully something will help: -- Pure yardage is not always a reliable metric, I can see a taper that would consist of nearly the same amount of yardage that you normally do but that is more restful or has a different focus. (For example, I'll often do 3000 or more during one day of a meet...though a lot of that is easy swimming.) -- You didn't mention what you do with your cross-training during taper. Since that appears to be a good part of your normal exercise routine, you obviously need a taper plan for that too. Since the goal is to swim fast, I would venture to say that a good part of your taper may even be cutting back on and eventually eliminating your cross-training. -- If sprinting is what taxes you the most, you definitely need to cut back on it. Personally, I wouldn't do lactate work the week before your meet. Good luck. Hi Chris, Thanks for your suggestions. I do cut back on all cross training - that feels like the most important part of tapering for breaststroke swims -conserving the legs, so I do no strength workouts for 2 weeks, I try to "coach" rather than all-out teach my classes, and no running. I do sometime walk the dog here and there and garden...What I can't change is that I'm standing several hours a day training people... I will say the best meet I ever had was one where I was injured and did pretty much only easy swimming for a couple of weeks and no breaststroke at all. I did keep the yardage up over 2000 until a few days out, though.

RE: Tapers

aquajock — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:43:52 GMT

As cokie pointed out (and many others will attest), tapering/resting is highly individualized. In the ballpark of 2600-3300 yard workouts, I would peg you for a 3 day rest period. Mon - 3,300 Tues - 2,800 Wed - 2,000-2,500 (basically a normal practice, just shorten your main set a bit) Thurs - ~1,500 (meet warmup plus some 100's or 50's pace) Fri - ~1,000 (or meet warmup equivalent) Sat - Meet At the yardages you describe, you can quickly get back up to speed the following week. You could test that out at just about any meet and it's not going to ruin your training. However, you said you don't feel normal with less than 1,800 yards. If that truly is the case, I would suggest continuing with your normal practices except the day before the meet (do meet warmup) and reducing/eliminating any dryland work the same week of your meet. Greg, I'm thinking that might work. I've done a lot of 3 day tapers for state meets and had good results. When I say I don't feel normal, I'm talking all mental. I just feel so uptight and out of sorts sometimes what used to be fun feels like a chore.