I've been attempting to do some reasonable 10 day-2 week taper for an upcoming meet. Perhaps this is unusual for a sprinter, but I've found I hate tapering. I'm not terribly good at sticking to a taper plan. I feel more unfit each passing day. I just want to get back to my usual workouts and cross training ...
On top of this general angst, a tri friend told me today that tapering makes you b*tchy. :bitching: I've read this in running books too. Seems somewhat true for me, unfortunately for my family.
Anyone else hate tapering or is it just me?!
Having said this, I'm sure I'll have fun at the meet.
Gotta disagree... Everyone should absolutely taper!!! Last season, I swam 3x/week for weekly yardage totals max'ing out at just under 10,000 yards and I benefited hugely from the taper. Granted, it was a short taper (about 9-10 days or so) but it's not like I had a lot to taper from! The taper sharpens you and makes the last 12 1/2 yards of the hundred much quicker, though they still might hurt as much.
Actually, I seem to benefit a lot more from a taper now than I did when I was in high school and swimming 6 days/week. It could be that my background level of exhaustion is just higher and I really need the rest or it could be that I don't slack as much as I used to during the regular training season. Probably a combo of both...
Gotta disagree... Everyone should absolutely taper!!! Last season, I swam 3x/week for weekly yardage totals max'ing out at just under 10,000 yards and I benefited hugely from the taper. Granted, it was a short taper (about 9-10 days or so) but it's not like I had a lot to taper from! The taper sharpens you and makes the last 12 1/2 yards of the hundred much quicker, though they still might hurt as much.
Actually, I seem to benefit a lot more from a taper now than I did when I was in high school and swimming 6 days/week. It could be that my background level of exhaustion is just higher and I really need the rest or it could be that I don't slack as much as I used to during the regular training season. Probably a combo of both...
