I'm about 9 days away from my longest race to date, the Manhattan Island Foundation's Little Red Lighthouse race—5 miles, pushed along (I hope) by a nice current.
Over the past 4 weeks, I have worked up to a peak of 6,500 yards per day (one long swim w/ 500 cooldown) alternating with a 4,000-yard mix of different sets, for a total of 5 or 6 days a week.
My question now is, should I taper? And, if so, how much?
I haven't swum this much since high school and I"m exhausted!
Parents
Former Member
Let's put it this way...
Last weekend I had a 2.7 mile race. My training normally consists of 3600 yards in the pool, broken into warmup, sets, sprints and warm-down (the main set is usually 2 or 3 500s alternating sprinting and slow without stopping). I didn't taper for the race, but took Friday off (if you consider driving 6 hours after work to be resting). I did okay for the first 1.5 or 2 miles, and then my stroke fell apart. I made it, but I was hurting at the end. A bit more rest probably would have done me some good.
Let's put it this way...
Last weekend I had a 2.7 mile race. My training normally consists of 3600 yards in the pool, broken into warmup, sets, sprints and warm-down (the main set is usually 2 or 3 500s alternating sprinting and slow without stopping). I didn't taper for the race, but took Friday off (if you consider driving 6 hours after work to be resting). I did okay for the first 1.5 or 2 miles, and then my stroke fell apart. I made it, but I was hurting at the end. A bit more rest probably would have done me some good.
