Training & Tapering for Worlds & Nats

In general, this is going to be a tough order. First, I'd look at the tapers that have worked for you in the past. Then I'd try to tailor it to your schedule. The racing at World's should be considered your sprinting so all I'd add on those days is a set or two of good pace work. Decrease the pace work slowly on a daily basis until the end of Worlds. On the days before Nationals just do some easy recovery swimming probably nothing more than 1200. Finally, swim fast at Nats. Good Luck!

If it were me I'd do a simple drop taper before Worlds. So just train like you normally do and then rest the two days before Worlds doing a typical meet warmup those days. Worlds will then be sort of the start of your taper. With warming up, warming down and racing you'll get sufficient work the days you're swimming at worlds and then start dropping the meterage until Nationals. Keep in mind the mental aspect can be more difficult than the physical. You've really got to stay focused on the end goal, which is Nationals.

In general, this is going to be a tough order. First, I'd look at the tapers that have worked for you in the past. Then I'd try to tailor it to your schedule. The racing at World's should be considered your sprinting so all I'd add on those days is a set or two of good pace work. Decrease the pace work slowly on a daily basis until the end of Worlds. On the days before Nationals just do some easy recovery swimming probably nothing more than 1200. Finally, swim fast at Nats. Good Luck! :DThanks, Waves! :agree: Unfortunately, I haven't quite figured out what has worked for me in the past. So many other variables come into play such as sleep quality and weather conditions. At Mesa Nationals, for example, I got sick from the heat and scratched my 200 breaststroke on the last day. I didn't even bother suiting up, because I felt that bad. Your advice makes sense to me, though- thanks! :D

If it were me I'd do a simple drop taper before Worlds. So just train like you normally do and then rest the two days before Worlds doing a typical meet warmup those days. Worlds will then be sort of the start of your taper. With warming up, warming down and racing you'll get sufficient work the days you're swimming at worlds and then start dropping the meterage until Nationals. Keep in mind the mental aspect can be more difficult than the physical. You've really got to stay focused on the end goal, which is Nationals. Your advice makes sense, too, Kirk. Really, my main goal is to have fun at both meets :groovy:, although I do hope to do well. After playing tourist in Quebec City, it may be a challenge to get my focus back; however, I will do my best! Thanks for your suggestions! :applaud:

Here is another thought.It is rare to taper too much, Maybe taper 2 wk for Worlds and continue the taper through Nats.Then you may swim well both places.That would be a 4 wk taper,which is doable in my experience.

Here is another thought.It is rare to taper too much, Maybe taper 2 wk for Worlds and continue the taper through Nats.Then you may swim well both places.That would be a 4 wk taper,which is doable in my experience. That sounds like a lot to me. I would be afraid a 4 week taper would leave me with a piano crashing down on my back in the 200 fly! :afraid: On the other hand, it would rest my various body parts that are sure to be in need of rest by then. :whiteflag: What would you recommend based on my current training schedule (detailed above)?

Keep your warm ups and cooldowns the same .Cut your sprinting in 1/2. Cut your distance sets in 1/3. Fill in the difference with very slow recovery swims.Don't increase the duration of your workouts(since you are doing more slow stuff you won't go as far in a given time,don't increase the time to regain the distance. If you continue to swim regularly,your loss in conditioning will be negligible.Your gains in speed, strength and flexibility should be significant. We work hard to increase conditioning and strength.Hard work is necessary for increases. By taper,you have done the work,it takes surprisingly little to maintain it. As you taper you will have more energy,and will be burning off less adrenaline in your shorter workouts.If you are like me,this will let you worry about everything.Don't be overly concerned, irrational worries are a normal part of taper.

Keep your warm ups and cooldowns the same .Cut your sprinting in 1/2. Cut your distance sets in 1/3. Fill in the difference with very slow recovery swims.Don't increase the duration of your workouts(since you are doing more slow stuff you won't go as far in a given time,don't increase the time to regain the distance. If you continue to swim regularly,your loss in conditioning will be negligible.Your gains in speed, strength and flexibility should be significant. We work hard to increase conditioning and strength.Hard work is necessary for increases. By taper,you have done the work,it takes surprisingly little to maintain it. As you taper you will have more energy,and will be burning off less adrenaline in your shorter workouts.If you are like me,this will let you worry about everything.Don't be overly concerned, irrational worries are a normal part of taper. Good advice, King Frog- thanks! :agree: The timing is perfect, too, because I'm planning on taking time this weekend to draw up a training plan leading up to Nationals. I forgot to mention I also have a long course meet at UGA-Athens on June 7 as well as the Georgia Games Open Water Meet on July 12. I will be swimming a 3K and 1K back-to-back at the Games, so I will be looking forward to starting a taper before Worlds. Congratulations on your excellent races at Nationals, K.F.! :applaud: Thanks for your help!

Suggestion - Why repeat events in the Worlds and Nationals? Why not do the 800, 400im, 100fly or 200im, (all relays), 200fly in the Worlds and the 50br, 100br, 200br and all relays in the Nationals. This way you will be able to hold the taper between Worlds and Nationals and concentrate the taper between the Worlds and Nationals solely on the *** stoke. (It is easier to hold a taper for shorter events)

Suggestion - Why repeat events in the Worlds and Nationals? Why not do the 800, 400im, 100fly or 200im, (all relays), 200fly in the Worlds and the 50br, 100br, 200br and all relays in the Nationals. This way you will be able to hold the taper between Worlds and Nationals and concentrate the taper between the Worlds and Nationals solely on the *** stoke. (It is easier to hold a taper for shorter events) Thanks for the suggestion; however, after thinking through the various scenarios, I settled on what I really want to race at each meet. One (major) factor that comes into play here is injury avoidance. It's best for my hip joints and adductor muscles if I DON'T concentrate on breaststroke. This is where I run into trouble (injuries). To put it into perspective, my body feels better after a 4,000 yard workout that is IM-focused (mixed kick, drill, swim IM sets) with relatively little yardage of full breaststroke or breaststroke kick than it does after a sprint day that includes this set: 10x100 @ 2:45- 25yd AFAP breaststroke/75 EZ free. Besides, I know I will want two cracks at trying to improve my time on the 200 fly and 400 IM. I still have so much room to improve on those events whereas my breaststroke times have fallen off (due to physical issues/ training limitations) and just frustrate me.