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.
Former Member
This thread has been great - I really appreciate all the good advice and will feel MUCH better going into my taper knowing I will be crabby and have some temporary osmotic weight gain. I'm sure my husband will also be perfectly understanding as well....hah!
My long swim today went great from an endurance standpoint - I am still a real SLOW-n-steady, but it was nice to know that my 200 splits were all within 5 seconds of each other right up until the end, and I got out of the pool feeling tired but quite good and still having some energy. Which makes me think about what FMIF said - I can't help but wonder if I feel ok getting out at 1.5 miles, how much further COULD I go? :wiggle:
This is dangerous thinking, scwids. Just look up some of Islandsox's posts and see where it could lead... (she's doing a 20-miler later this winter)
This is dangerous thinking, scwids. Just look up some of Islandsox's posts and see where it could lead... (she's doing a 20-miler later this winter)
Heh! After a mile of chop at the end of my swim and telling myself "never again," I find myself looking up more long swims on the internet to consider. Talk me down, somebody! :eek:
But at least for the near future, I don't see a 20-miler for me. After my five-miler, I was so happy to see land.... But I also remember telling myself I'd never run a marathon... and have since run seven. In lots of ways, long swims don't jar my body the way long runs have. And last night's group interval workout (running) went better than these workouts have for a while which I think was due to a few easy weeks and the Big Swim training. My inner fish is laughing. ;)
Holy mackerel, Batman! 20 miles!?!?!? :bolt: That's unbelievable! I'm just trying to get to a place where mentally and physically I can tackle the 4.4 mile Chesapeake Bay Swim!! (The added pleasure of swimming through diesel makes it a particularly attractive event...)
I also just realized that I will be on a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas just as my taper is coming into the homestretch. While it will be easy to lie out in the sun, it will be REALLY HARD to resist signing up for the 6 hour kayak around Freeport (rated "strenous" for activity!) Arrgggghhhh!!!:frustrated:
So I am having the wierdest tapering experience ever. I am in my taper with about a week and a half to go before my 1.4 mile OW event. Thanks to my fellow taper-haters wonderful advice, the fact that I have felt like a slow bloated slug has not been a surprise. :D
What was very strange was that I got in the pool today to do some sprint and interval work, and right away I notice that I have settled into a 4 beat kick. Which wouldn't be so wierd execept that up until now, my kick has been HORRENDOUS. I couldn't even call it a 6 beat kick - it was more like a 6-and-a-half beat kick since I had this wierd little stutter that kept sneaking in there. So today suddenly I'm swimming with a comfortable 4 beat kick. I feel like a slug, but I also notice the pool lane below me seems to be moving by just a little faster.
So I said what the heck, and timed a 200 split - swam it comfortably and just concentrated on keeping the kick timed with my strokes. I knocked 12 SECONDS off my average 200 split time!!! Obviously, my heart rate was lower too.
Normally I'd be psyched to have a breakthrough like this! Certainly, the time away from the pool during my taper has led to some subconscious processing of how I swim. The only thing that concerns me is that I am less than 2 weeks away from my OW event, and it seems a bizarre time to suddenly change up my form.
Anyone have an experience like this before? :confused:
Should we really taper if we swim less than 4000m a day. I don't think so. There are very few than workout more than that.
Now if we do 10,000m a day I may understand that we could Taper.
I dunno, George. I never do more than 4000 meters in a single swim workout. But I also cross train. My 10-14 day swim "taper" + eliminating cross training seemed to work reasonably well for me. Recovery and tapering seems to be especially important for masters and/or sprinters.
I don't think it matters that much, Bill, for your triathlon. I assume you'll do some biking and running before Saturday? If it's only a 600 OW swim, you probably don't need to swim. On the other hand, getting in and doing some easy swimming does keep your shoulders loose.
Just don't be doing this :bitching: to the wife while you're going crazy!
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...
If you are are doing less than 4000m you are barely in condition. Would you consinder it tapering by taking two days before a race and just swimming a few easy lengths and a few sprints, just to keep loose. That is all I ever did but I was averaging less than a 1000 m a day until I became a marathon swimmer.
Nope, wouldn't call that a taper, but I am not a naturally talented swimmer like you either. I know that a taper helps me, even with my low yardage. I'm certainly not recommending people only swim 3x/week and then taper. In fact, the goal this season is a whopping 4x/week. Woohoo!
Hang in there, Donna! I wouldn't want to swim in indoor 90+ degree pools either. Blech.
This tapering is driving me nuts! My race is Saturday. I took last Saturday through Tuesday off. Swam a little today (2 timed 300s, 4 all out 25s, a couple of drills and warm up/down). Its only 600M OW. Should I just chill or should I at least get in the water and keep the shoulders loose?
