Coaches and Sprinting

Is this what you would suggest a month out? I'm sort of a sprint/middle distance freestyler w/ a distance-oriented coach. I was a little concerned today when he told me his thoughts on how I should taper. I've got Zones 2 weeks prior to Clovis. He suggested resting 5-6 days prior to Zones, work hard the week after, then do another 5-6 day taper for Nats. This sounds like more of a distance swimmer's taper to me, and from what I remember, 5-6 days is when you start to feel like crap during a taper. On the good side, he made it sound like I could borrow a tech suit, which I don't own. But I have to say I'm a little concerned about a new suit and different taper. I'd rather work through Zones and concentrate on Clovis. Any thoughts, or am I stealing this thread? I wouldn't worry too much about Zones, if I were you. Book a massage after to help speed recovery to prep for Nats. I would try the tech suit. Maybe give it a whirl in practice if you want to see how it feels. The proposed plan may work for college kids, not such a good plan for masters perhaps. Even a sprinter extending up to 200s shouldn't be "working hard" less than a week before Nats. 5-6 days is more of a mini taper or distance taper. I followed Chris Stevenson's taper plan for Auburn and it worked very well (see "Drop Dead Taper" thread). You need a plan to taper and drop weights too. Maybe the following: 3 weeks out: drop cross training, drop or taper weights depending on how much you're doing (I think Wally and Chris S. drop weights 3-4 weeks out, but they heavy lift 3x a week) 2 weeks out: drop weights, drop yardage slightly, drop intensity -- no hard aerobic work, fewer sprints 1 week out: drop yardage and intensity, only do a few fast 50s and 25s with a couple meet warm ups at the end of the week. I frequently hear swimmers I respect say that we need more rest than we think. You've worked really hard this year. I'd give a real taper a shot.

Is this what you would suggest a month out? I'm sort of a sprint/middle distance freestyler w/ a distance-oriented coach. I was a little concerned today when he told me his thoughts on how I should taper. I've got Zones 2 weeks prior to Clovis. He suggested resting 5-6 days prior to Zones, work hard the week after, then do another 5-6 day taper for Nats. This sounds like more of a distance swimmer's taper to me, and from what I remember, 5-6 days is when you start to feel like crap during a taper. On the good side, he made it sound like I could borrow a tech suit, which I don't own. But I have to say I'm a little concerned about a new suit and different taper. I'd rather work through Zones and concentrate on Clovis. Any thoughts, or am I stealing this thread? I wouldn't worry too much about Zones, if I were you. Book a massage after to help speed recovery to prep for Nats. I would try the tech suit. Maybe give it a whirl in practice if you want to see how it feels. The proposed plan may work for college kids, not such a good plan for masters perhaps. Even a sprinter extending up to 200s shouldn't be "working hard" less than a week before Nats. 5-6 days is more of a mini taper or distance taper. I followed Chris Stevenson's taper plan for Auburn and it worked very well (see "Drop Dead Taper" thread). You need a plan to taper and drop weights too. Maybe the following: 3 weeks out: drop cross training, drop or taper weights depending on how much you're doing (I think Wally and Chris S. drop weights 3-4 weeks out, but they heavy lift 3x a week) 2 weeks out: drop weights, drop yardage slightly, drop intensity -- no hard aerobic work, fewer sprints 1 week out: drop yardage and intensity, only do a few fast 50s and 25s with a couple meet warm ups at the end of the week. I frequently hear swimmers I respect say that we need more rest than we think. You've worked really hard this year. I'd give a real taper a shot.