My goal meet is March 27/28. I am swimming 10 individual events and relays. My focus events are the 1650 and 1000 freestyle. The mile is the 1st event on Saturday morning, the 1,000 is the 1st event Sunday. I have been swimming 16-18K per week for 4 months. Here are my questions:
1- Am I swimming enough yardage to bother with a proper taper?
2-How much (%) per week should I cut back and when should I start tapering?
3-Should I do any extra "speed" or "pace" work during the taper?
4-What does the last week before the meet look like?
I normally train normally right up to the week before the state meet. At this point I cut back and add an extra rest day to the week. I am usually happy with how I do at State but am wondering if I'm missing the boat somewhere. I have done alot more swimming the last 10 months than ever before and I can honestly say I'm tired and my shoulders are a bit ragged.
thanks in advance for any advice!! :applaud:
Not to get too much off-topic here, but how many reps do you want to do for these sets, Kirk?
I haven't done it this year, but what I did last year was build up the reps over time. For example, the first week I did it I think I did just 4x50 and 4x100. Then I'd bump it up by two reps each week, but only do one set or the other. Around a month out from Nationals I was up to 20 reps. The first week I would have never thought I could hold the pace for 20, but by the time I got to it it wasn't bad. In fact, I'd normally get faster as I went through the set!
Not to get too much off-topic here, but how many reps do you want to do for these sets, Kirk?
I haven't done it this year, but what I did last year was build up the reps over time. For example, the first week I did it I think I did just 4x50 and 4x100. Then I'd bump it up by two reps each week, but only do one set or the other. Around a month out from Nationals I was up to 20 reps. The first week I would have never thought I could hold the pace for 20, but by the time I got to it it wasn't bad. In fact, I'd normally get faster as I went through the set!
