i have been swimming for about a year. 4000-4500 yards per swim 3-4 times a week, mostly 4 times. i have swam in 4 meets and have a scy meet coming up at the end of june. a three day meet, sat- mon. there is a lcm meet i want to attend one week before. will a swim the week before hurt my performance the following week?
the 3 day event i will be swimming 200, 100 and 50 free, 200 im, 100 bk and 50 back.
at the vegas lcm, one day meet i am thinking about doing the 50 fly, 100 back, 50 free and 200 im. fly and ind med are not my best events so i want the practice.
i am now starting to cut my yardage to about 3000-3500 yrds per session. trying to push faster and keeping the repeats heavy at 120 yards some 200 and a few 40-60 yrd sprints. 45% back 45% free 10% fly and ind med work. after a year i can't believe how poor my endurance is. should i stop playing racquetball and stop lifting or just cut back? i think i am over analyzing this stuff but i do want to be fast.
this tapper thing i do not fully grasp. what else should i be doing?
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Former Member
Im new to USMS after swimming long ago in HS/college and just went through my first successful taper this spring. I was worried there wasnt anything to taper from since I was doing so much less than in the "old glory days". But it worked.
I found swimming fast to be important. My body had to get used to speed so it could feel easy and natural = hard fast swims with lots of rest, going off the blocks and working turns at race pace - but not too much yardage at that intensity. Since I was only swimimng 3-4 times a week, I didnt drop my overall yardage much but definitely dropped the overall intensity. Did lots of drill yardage working on technique combined with some super high intensity speed work. Then I did drop yards 3-4 days before the big meet - warm-up, some fast 25s off the blocks, warm-down.
Also I cut back on weights 2 weeks out and stopped altogether a week out. Stopped other sports a week out too.
My best advice is not to stress too much about it. Listen to your body because we are all different and each season will be different. Be rested, believe in the work you've done to date, and have fun with it!
I think the meet the week before will be great racing practice too.
GOOD LUCK!
Im new to USMS after swimming long ago in HS/college and just went through my first successful taper this spring. I was worried there wasnt anything to taper from since I was doing so much less than in the "old glory days". But it worked.
I found swimming fast to be important. My body had to get used to speed so it could feel easy and natural = hard fast swims with lots of rest, going off the blocks and working turns at race pace - but not too much yardage at that intensity. Since I was only swimimng 3-4 times a week, I didnt drop my overall yardage much but definitely dropped the overall intensity. Did lots of drill yardage working on technique combined with some super high intensity speed work. Then I did drop yards 3-4 days before the big meet - warm-up, some fast 25s off the blocks, warm-down.
Also I cut back on weights 2 weeks out and stopped altogether a week out. Stopped other sports a week out too.
My best advice is not to stress too much about it. Listen to your body because we are all different and each season will be different. Be rested, believe in the work you've done to date, and have fun with it!
I think the meet the week before will be great racing practice too.
GOOD LUCK!
