Will my taper work??

the best way to ease your worry during taper is to do timed fast swims in practice your speed tells you where you are plus if you were fast today, and the day before that and the day before that. ... you will probably be fast tomorrow and if you keep training to rest, increase your speed and maintain your speed you'll be fast when your meet arrives at some point very close to the meet you no longer need to be timed Repeat this Mantra I'm fast I'm fine. Every thing is on track I hate that I never can get over the anxiety of will my taper work!!! I've always had great tapers, but every time I wonder if I'm doing it right..... This time is a little different because of the long layoff since my last season of competition (20 years), but I remember always having these same concerns. Does anyone else have these same fears??

At this point, the work is done and crop has been sown. (Look to Paul's post for ways to actually blow a taper.) So, not just will my taper work, but have I done enough up front and am I giving myself enough rest on the back end? ....too late to do anything about doing enough training or competition, so I focus on the good days and good sets for encouragement, especially when 90% of taper time tends to make me feel really crappy. Resting used to be about 2 weeks and moderate yardage, but after 20 years, I find 3 weeks and even less yardage is beneficial. During taper, just go with it. If you have the need for speed, go ahead and blast a few 25s. If it doesn't feel right after warm-up, just do 500-1000 extra easy kick/drill/swim and try again the next day. Sometimes a 8x50 set with short rest can flush out that jonesin' feeling from the drop in yardage. Broken swims are always a good indicator of where you are at going into the meet.

I hate that I never can get over the anxiety of will my taper work!!! I've always had great tapers, but every time I wonder if I'm doing it right..... This time is a little different because of the long layoff since my last season of competition (20 years), but I remember always having these same concerns. Does anyone else have these same fears?? Is Susan tapering also? I haven't started taper yet. I'm kind of afraid to do more than a week-10 days for it...

I just finished my last taper practice today and ready to go tomorrow at the meet. You really need to TRUST your taper. During taper you should be doing some broken 100's/200's to give ya a sense of where you are at. Last week I broke a 200 fly 75/50/50/25. Did a 1:58 but felt much worse. I think I was in one of the valleys during my taper where you have peaks and valleys. Felt great this morning and bouncing off wall here at work ready to go. Good luck and trust your training and taper, eliminate the doubts and go for it! Greg

Do you think its better to do pace work (during taper) with less rest or more i.e. 8 X 50 on :40 or 1:00 holding 1000 or 500 pace? In preparation for 1000, 400 IM, and 200 fly, I tend to do pretty much nothing. For 2-3 weeks I do a lot of easy swimming. My taper tends to be what the coach wants the first week, but I roll my own the last 10 days out of the meet. This is my usual routine: 400-800 easy 8x75 kick/drill/swim by 25 with about :30 between, but it can be whatever.... no rush. 100-200 easy either get out now, or one of these: 1) 4-8x50's on :45, 1000 race pace 2) a broken 200 at 90% (short of 100%, anyway), :10 at each 50 (IM or free) 3) guess your time 50's at 500 race pace until you get it right two times in a row with coach assistance (prefered choice) ... then 100-200 easy and get out. For guessing your time set, it works like this... lets say your goal 500 pace is 30.0. You swim the first 50... it feels good, you guess 29.3. Coach says it was 28.7... obviously you are not in control and are a bit excited with all the rest... still too fast on both accounts. Take about 60 seconds and try again. Next one slower and better controlled. You guess 29.7 this time and coach says it was 29.3. Close, but still needs a little work. Third one you guess 29.5 and coach says 29.6. Better... at least you are actually in tune with your effort, but faster than your pace of 30.0. Fourth one, guess 29.8 and coach says 29.9. Good enough... go ahead and swim it off and get out. Sometimes the first two are perfect. I usually don't need more than four 50s to get dialed in. I've seen others need up to eight 50s to get it down.

Far to many variables to generalize (how much did you train, how old are you, what are your primary events, etc.) however I will say: 1) Less is more. If in general you have stayed in good shape its better to err on the side of more rest. 2) I disagree with Ande on gauging your taper by how fast you swim during it. Typically if you are truly resting you will go through a cycle 3-7 days out where you most likely will feel like crap...this is where things turn mental and the whole aspect of "trust" comes into play....I see far more swimmers blow it a week out because they can't get over thinking they are getting out of shape when they feel this way...when the opposite is true. My best meets are the ones I've felt poor till I stepped up on the block for my first event. 3) Whatever distance you are swimming I would strongly suggest not doing any 100% effort swims the last week of your taper...don't leave your best swims in the workout or warm up pool.

1) Less is more. If in general you have stayed in good shape its better to err on the side of more rest. nuf sed. :bow:

Some really great advice already.....Thanks. Mark and Greg- Good luck at your meets. Ande - Question on balancing rest for different lenght events longer (1000 and 500 free) Mid (200 free and back) shorter (100 and 50 back) I'm trying to bounce between pace work and speed work. I'm guessing next season I will probably replace the 1000 with the 100 free or IM, but I'm kind of stuck with this years events. They did work great for the SCY Nats schedule, but finding it challenging for trainning. Lesson learned. Al - Thanks for the sets. I think some fast 25's and maybe some sets of pace 50's will be the answer I'm looking for in my response/question to Ande...I just hope pace 50's will be enough for the 1000. Do you think its better to do pace work (during taper) with less rest or more i.e. 8 X 50 on :40 or 1:00 holding 1000 or 500 pace? Thanks again for helping me keep my head in the right place.

Is Susan tapering also? I haven't started taper yet. I'm kind of afraid to do more than a week-10 days for it... Trusty, We haven't started yet either...Tomorrow will be my last real workout and then I'm going to moderatly taper M-W next week and full taper from there....16-13 days total. Susan is tapering not sure to the degree that I will....She obviously has to think about trials....

Thanks. Actually I think Big Al and I may have some virtual gridge races over the next 3 weeks...See 45-49 BR rankings:mooning: Some really great advice already.....Thanks. Mark and Greg- Good luck at your meets. Ande - Question on balancing rest for different lenght events longer (1000 and 500 free) Mid (200 free and back) shorter (100 and 50 back) I'm trying to bounce between pace work and speed work. I'm guessing next season I will probably replace the 1000 with the 100 free or IM, but I'm kind of stuck with this years events. They did work great for the SCY Nats schedule, but finding it challenging for trainning. Lesson learned. Al - Thanks for the sets. I think some fast 25's and maybe some sets of pace 50's will be the answer I'm looking for in my response/question to Ande...I just hope pace 50's will be enough for the 1000. Do you think its better to do pace work (during taper) with less rest or more i.e. 8 X 50 on :40 or 1:00 holding 1000 or 500 pace? Thanks again for helping me keep my head in the right place.