OK…three days to Nationals, my first. I’ve trained really hard for eight months and done all the right stuff: high yardage with a good mix of endurance, sprint, and race-pace training. I also have been running and doing some strength training. This past week I’ve cut out the running and weights and I’m doing light swim workouts working on starts, turns, finishes and pacing.
It’s taper time and I am going CRAZY!!! I’m not sleeping well, I want to eat too much, and this morning I was seriously considering going out in the yard and pulling out trees! (Now, that’s nuts!) How do I keep my head together during this critical time! I need advice on how to handle the psychological aspects of tapering!!
:confused:
Parents
Former Member
If you feel tired... DO LESS
If you feel too good... Do more
I always needed a good 3-4 week taper back in my USS days, but the older I get, the less I seem to need. It is all based on how much you train. Rest is the most important thing and try and eliminate as much stress as you can, a bit tougher for Masters swimmers as many have jobs and family that may cause stress. Just rest, and if you can not sleep, it is not a bad thing, as long as you stayed relaxed. You can compete at a hi level with little rest. It is the worrying that you can not sleep that hurts the body.
This is probably too late to help you for your meet, but may help in the future.:p
If you feel tired... DO LESS
If you feel too good... Do more
I always needed a good 3-4 week taper back in my USS days, but the older I get, the less I seem to need. It is all based on how much you train. Rest is the most important thing and try and eliminate as much stress as you can, a bit tougher for Masters swimmers as many have jobs and family that may cause stress. Just rest, and if you can not sleep, it is not a bad thing, as long as you stayed relaxed. You can compete at a hi level with little rest. It is the worrying that you can not sleep that hurts the body.
This is probably too late to help you for your meet, but may help in the future.:p
