Back to back meets

Anyhow, both meets I swam the 1000, 500, 200, 100, and 50 freestyles. I was 3 secs slower in the 500 at Zones, I think partly from accumulated fatigue. I don't think that sprints would take quite so much a toll, especially if you make sure to restore all your nutrition, etc. Maybe the weight lifting community could offer a word here, given that all out swim sprints probably have more to do with anaerobic conditioning. To wit, if you do an all out dead lift on day 1, how long does it take your body to completely recover? I would imagine you would be fine in a couple days, assuming your body was used to dead lifts. But I don't know for sure. It would seem that whatever muscle fibers get torn in the process would have a chance to knit back even stronger with a week? I don't know about sprints taking less of a toll ... Sprinting is freaking exhausting! And I wonder if sprinters recover as well as distance folks? After a hard two day meet, I often don't feel normal until Wed or so. I've been trying to do hard speed work on multiple days in a row to get my body used to the feeling of a multi-day meet. Meet #2 is a Sunday, so I could be OK by then if I just float around the days in between.

I could be OK by then if I just float around the days in between. What a lovely image: our lackadaisical Leslie, lallygagging lazily in leisurely limbo! Forget swim camps! You should open your own Taper Academy. I would very much like to enroll in the summer session, you know, the one that begins on June 3rd and runs till September, 27th? Prepare the Compound for an extended stay!

Leslie, one "red flag" I saw in your plan was to rest "a week or so" for the first event. 5-7 tapers are usually setting you up to be at your lowest energy point...the "magic" tends to happen with a shorter 3 day taper or a 10-14 day taper. Back to back meets a week apart are not a probklem for most swimmers who have stayed pretty consistent in their training. The key is to not come into workouts following the first meet with any kind of mindset that you need to "get back into shape". For me I would take the Monday off completely, on Tuesday I'd go about 2000 long and easy recovery, Wednesday & Thursday pre-meet warm-up with only a few build 50's and fast 25's.

Leslie, one "red flag" I saw in your plan was to rest "a week or so" for the first event. 5-7 tapers are usually setting you up to be at your lowest energy point...the "magic" tends to happen with a shorter 3 day taper or a 10-14 day taper. Back to back meets a week apart are not a problem for most swimmers who have stayed pretty consistent in their training. The key is to not come into workouts following the first meet with any kind of mindset that you need to "get back into shape". For me I would take the Monday off completely, on Tuesday I'd go about 2000 long and easy recovery, Wednesday & Thursday pre-meet warm-up with only a few build 50's and fast 25's. Thanks Paul. That sounds like a good between meet plan. I know you are a staunch opponent of the 7 day taper. That's one reason I've been contemplating doing 10 days instead. I'm just undecided on the amount of rest ... as I did a 2 week taper the beginning of February and am not too worried about my Zones times. (Though I'd like to swim a decent 100 free -- I know, it's a shocker.) However, I have been training like crazy the last two months and lifting frequently. I'm a pretty consistent trainer, as evidenced by Hulk's poking fun at me for being an endorphin addict. I know better than to try to "get back in shape" between the meets. I'll be too flattened after Zones anyway to be tempted to ramp it up. I did do a 5 day mini taper for a meet in mid March, and did pretty decent times though.

What a lovely image: our lackadaisical Leslie, lallygagging lazily in leisurely limbo! Forget swim camps! You should open your own Taper Academy. I would very much like to enroll in the summer session, you know, the one that begins on June 3rd and runs till September, 27th? Prepare the Compound for an extended stay! Hmmm ... If you'd like to join me for my regular workout regimen, I'd be happy to have you! However, that means you have to lift a weight, do core work and run occasionally. :P And just because I'm a sprinter doesn't mean I don't train hard. Just ask Hulk about our last workout together ...

Are you talking about the NYC Master's Meet at Flushing Meadows? I'll probably go to that one too. Good luck if you decide to do both. I would get in the pool during the week and stretch out a little, but ultimately, a lot of rest will be fine. Yes, that's the meet. I've heard it's a pretty nice pool. Hope to meet you there!

When I raced the Marathon circuit it was every weekend from the 1st week in July until 2nd or third week in September. We would also race a couple of times in the same week. Sure it was hard but that is how I made my money. I would take 2 days off after a race. Now do we call that a taper??? George, you bring up an interesting point. I've discussed with a lot of friends and coaches how unbelievebly fast many of the college and USA/foreign swimmers are going during an entire season (college and world cup for example)...usually with a minimal amount of time drop for the final meet of the season....pretty foriegn concept to most masters swimmers (the exception being Karlyn & dennis Baker perhaps). Since most masters swimmers train in what I would call the "old school" training mindset...beat the crap our of yourself for 2-6 months then full on taper for one big meet...few people are comfortable with 1, 2 or 3 high quality rested meets in a short period of time.

George, can you teach me how to make money from swimming? I am open to putting on exhibitions, but I don't want these to be too degrading.

I do back-to-back meets quite a bit. Most recently swam the Albatross just 6 days after a local SCY meet. LCM zones always seems to be on the weekend after LCM nationals, so I've done that back-to-back as well. If you're doing a full taper for zones, then I would suggest doing just what Allen says. Short, warm-up/cool down swims during the week with just a bit of speed work. You'll still be riding your taper at the next meet. Keep up your feel for the water and don't overload yourself at the SCM meet.

George, you bring up an interesting point. I've discussed with a lot of friends and coaches how unbelievebly fast many of the college and USA/foreign swimmers are going during an entire season (college and world cup for example)...usually with a minimal amount of time drop for the final meet of the season....pretty foriegn concept to most masters swimmers (the exception being Karlyn & dennis Baker perhaps). Since most masters swimmers train in what I would call the "old school" training mindset...beat the crap our of yourself for 2-6 months then full on taper for one big meet...few people are comfortable with 1, 2 or 3 high quality rested meets in a short period of time. So are you thinking of competing this way, Paul? I actually rest and wear tech suits at every meet, though the rest is usually short 3-5 day type rest. But it's sort of hard, logistically, for most masters to attempt 3 meets in a short time frame, don't you think? Otherwise, perhaps more would not be so philosophically opposed to this mindset?