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:
Thanks guys for all the great taper ideas. I am reading them tonight and going to try to lump them together and come up with a plan.
I will probably stick to the 2 week/25% cut-back per week plan. The week before I will be really busy at the AAHPERD National Conference in Indy. Maybe that will help me with my taper blues! I won't help me stay off my feet though!
I know I am entered in way too many events. This is the Indiana Master's State Meet. Our club traditionally tries to win the meet with a skeleton crew of swimmers doing a ton of events! The relays are what really kill me. I will also have problems swimming my mile followed by 1 or 2 age groups of 400 medley relay(I'll most likely do fly), then the 200 free.
I am glad the mile is the 1st event on the 1st day. It's my favorite event and at least it won't be effected by the other swims!
One other thing to think about as you contemplate your taper yardage and intensity is how much you'll be swimming on your meet days, inclusive of warmups and warmdowns. If your meet days are going to look like 4K yard days, I'd be cautious about tapering your yardage down too much. That is, you don't want the week before to look like 1500 to 2000 yard workouts and then surprise your body with a 4K to 5K day 1 of the meet. For me, on a meet day when I do a mile and other events, I can easily push close to 5K as I tend to do about 1.5K to 2k warmup, probably 400 to 500 cool down after a mile and 200 to 300 cool down after each other race.
In the end, though, your past experience is probably the best guide.
Thanks guys for all the great taper ideas. I am reading them tonight and going to try to lump them together and come up with a plan.
I will probably stick to the 2 week/25% cut-back per week plan. The week before I will be really busy at the AAHPERD National Conference in Indy. Maybe that will help me with my taper blues! I won't help me stay off my feet though!
I know I am entered in way too many events. This is the Indiana Master's State Meet. Our club traditionally tries to win the meet with a skeleton crew of swimmers doing a ton of events! The relays are what really kill me. I will also have problems swimming my mile followed by 1 or 2 age groups of 400 medley relay(I'll most likely do fly), then the 200 free.
I am glad the mile is the 1st event on the 1st day. It's my favorite event and at least it won't be effected by the other swims!
One other thing to think about as you contemplate your taper yardage and intensity is how much you'll be swimming on your meet days, inclusive of warmups and warmdowns. If your meet days are going to look like 4K yard days, I'd be cautious about tapering your yardage down too much. That is, you don't want the week before to look like 1500 to 2000 yard workouts and then surprise your body with a 4K to 5K day 1 of the meet. For me, on a meet day when I do a mile and other events, I can easily push close to 5K as I tend to do about 1.5K to 2k warmup, probably 400 to 500 cool down after a mile and 200 to 300 cool down after each other race.
In the end, though, your past experience is probably the best guide.
