oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Former Member — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:45:10 GMT

tomorrow's the big meet! should i take today off, or just go and swim a few easy laps?

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Allen Stark — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:09:35 GMT

I used to always swim better the second day of a meet,so I decided to make the first day like the second day. To do this I swim my regular pre-meet warm up,swim a 50 all out(ideally from the blocks) and then swim my regular cool down. This seems to really help.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Former Member — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:21:23 GMT

thanks for all the replies! i hope i can swim fast at my season ending meet. :-)

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

FindingMyInnerFish — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:44:50 GMT

thanks for all the replies! i hope i can swim fast at my season ending meet. :-) Good luck in your meet! :wine::cheerleader::cheerleader::banana: You'll have that coach asking for your secrets! :D

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Former Member — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:24:14 GMT

If your meet is this Saturday definitely ditch the long morning practice, you could also consider taking extra rest during the afternoon practice, thats on how you feel though.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Former Member — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:06:10 GMT

i felt SO TIRED in practice today, but I feel more in shape. I don't want to push myself so much anymore. Tomorrow we have doubles practice. Mornings are tough, long, hard, tedious, while afternoons are quick, snappy and usually consist of sprint work. I'm thinking of skipping out on morning practice and attending afternoon. Does this seem like a good idea to you out there?

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

knelson — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:16:13 GMT

ehh. it's kinda hard to ask my coach to alter the sets just for me. He shouldn't need to modify them. You can modify them! It's masters: do what you want.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Allen Stark — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 11:51:04 GMT

Definitely only do one practice/day. When you do go I'd either do every other swim or swim one hard and one recovery speed(so if they are doing say 10X100 on the 1:45 either do 5 or do 5 hard 5 recovery alternating.)General rule for a taper,do an intense swim and then lots of recovery and then another intense swim,etc.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Karen Duggan — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:41:00 GMT

I was under the impression that, especially near the end of a taper, you need to focus on really good quality swims in workout, not distance. In fact we usually do a meet warm up and however many sprints we want in the last few days leading up to the meet. I agree with Kirk, look out for #1. Any coach or swimmer HAS to recognize that proper preparation for any meet (no matter when it is) should take priority (for that swimmer). Talk to the coach and tell him that you will not be doing the entire workout, maybe move to another less crowded lane, definitely tell your lanemates what you're doing. After practice is over, ask if you can do some timed sprints. Good luck :)

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Former Member — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:42:40 GMT

ehh. it's kinda hard to ask my coach to alter the sets just for me. i know as a fact that he's pretty inflexible... maybe it would help if i laid back on the amount of effort i put into swimming for the next few days? my coach usually focuses on the needs of the majority of the group, not the minority so it would be pretty hard. i'm stuck...

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Donna — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:06:00 GMT

Treat yourself to a massage! They are great during these final weeks before the big meet.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

knelson — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:10:13 GMT

You've got to look out for number one. Don't feel bad about modifying your workouts this week to fit your taper. You can easily do this without affecting everyone else in your lane. Cut out a couple repeats, get out early, etc. With less than a week now until your meet I'd suggest you really cut back.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Former Member — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:30:08 GMT

thanks for the encouraging words. after 3 days out of the water, i felt a little uneasy and bloated today. i suppose i swam alright though. but i just realized that my coach doesn't even care about the upcoming meet this saturday! his main focus is the meet AFTER my meet, which is much more important, except that i'm not attending it. so basically, this is my schedule -almost a whole season of hard work, with little taper since i never had a chance to make the cuts for meets worth tapering for. -3 weeks of even more intense work with doubles -1.5 week of laying back where i feel AWESOME. -3 days without swim practice -1 day where I feel slightly uneasy -tomorrow off -wednesday, thursday, friday= hard work to prepare for NEXT WEEK'S long taper. so i'll taper next week for ABSOLUTELY nothing. yet i have a meet THIS saturday! will i jeopardize my chances of swimming fast this weekend?

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

FindingMyInnerFish — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:34:22 GMT

Since you're not going to be in the meet for which the coach is having your team taper, why don't you talk w/ him and maybe he can suggest some adjustments in your workout that will maximize your chances for success in your meet? Sounds as if some flexibility is needed here, and maybe for the coach the other meet is important, but the one you're in matters to you and it seems as if it would be worth communicating with him about your concerns.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

FindingMyInnerFish — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 12:38:02 GMT

What Donna said! I have more running than swimming background, but I know how anxious those last couple weeks before a big race can be and that feeling, "oh no, what if I blew this thing because of doing x!" Lots of it is the stress that the big day is getting closer and you want everything to go perfectly. And so even the smallest glitch can feel like a disaster. That's when we need to remember that the training already done is worth a lot, and as Donna said, a single day's practice won't make or break what you've already accomplished. Have a great race! You'll be ready!! :applaud: :applaud: :cheerleader:

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Donna — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 11:27:17 GMT

One day is not going to make or break you. Typically when I have tapered I get a few days where everything just feels off. That is ok. Don't worry you'll do fine.

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

Allen Stark — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 09:35:46 GMT

First week of taper I typically begin feeling stronger. Then the second week is almost never good. I feel loggy and every ache is magnified. The third week it gets better again. Don't despair,you'll do fine.:cheerleader:

RE: oh no! could i have messed up my taper?

knelson — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 01:30:55 GMT

The only consistency during taper is inconsistency. You might feel great one day and terrible the next. In other words, don't sweat it. You'll be fine!