I am an unaffiliated masters swimmer who does 3-4 meets a year and self-trains at my local Y. Lately, I've only been doing about 1500, 3-4 times a week, but mostly race-paced training (something like 300 moderate warmup, 200 kick on back with fins, Main Set (all at about 85-90%): 3 100s, 6 50s, 12 25s, all at about 90-100%, 150-200 cool down.
I have a meet Sunday. I swam yesterday. Last time I had a meet, I did 2700 the day before and was sore and all around pretty zonked and did crappy times. I am also 60 years old. Any recommendations for what I should be doing today and tomorrow (Fri/Sat) before the meet?
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Former Member
That depends. Are you looking to be fully rested for the meet? Normally a taper is something drawn out over several weeks, progressively resting AND fine tuning speed in preparation for the big meet. You can also "drop taper," which can mean different things for different people, but for me means taking a heavy training schedule and stopping it 5-7 days out to rest and work on fine tuning speed (back to that normal taper thing!).
If you are just looking to be better rested for this meet, going super light one day and then skipping the other could help. I am swimming in a USA-S meet this weekend. I did lots of yardage and some high intensity stuff on Monday and Wednesday, so yesterday I did only 1500 meters of easy swimming and drilling (a 60-70% decrease in my normal yardage), and I skipped doing a morning swim today in preparation for my first events tonight.
Given your age, and how you say you are training, and how the last time you felt gassed for the meet, I would suggest a VERY SHORT swim on one day and skipping a swim on the other. Which day you choose to swim is up to you, although for me, I prefer not to skip a full day, the day before a meet. I prefer to touch the water the day before a meet starts.
I just want to say that I am paying great attention to this topic, and I really appreciate you thoughtful and detailed response, Calvin S. Thanks.
That depends. Are you looking to be fully rested for the meet? Normally a taper is something drawn out over several weeks, progressively resting AND fine tuning speed in preparation for the big meet. You can also "drop taper," which can mean different things for different people, but for me means taking a heavy training schedule and stopping it 5-7 days out to rest and work on fine tuning speed (back to that normal taper thing!).
If you are just looking to be better rested for this meet, going super light one day and then skipping the other could help. I am swimming in a USA-S meet this weekend. I did lots of yardage and some high intensity stuff on Monday and Wednesday, so yesterday I did only 1500 meters of easy swimming and drilling (a 60-70% decrease in my normal yardage), and I skipped doing a morning swim today in preparation for my first events tonight.
Given your age, and how you say you are training, and how the last time you felt gassed for the meet, I would suggest a VERY SHORT swim on one day and skipping a swim on the other. Which day you choose to swim is up to you, although for me, I prefer not to skip a full day, the day before a meet. I prefer to touch the water the day before a meet starts.
I just want to say that I am paying great attention to this topic, and I really appreciate you thoughtful and detailed response, Calvin S. Thanks.
