Taper Day 1

So here we are, first day of Taper.

Tapering begins

As is usually the way with tapering, I don't suddenly feel miraculously more rested or fresh yet. That will come, but it is too early at this point in time. Still feeling a bit tired and a bit sore and worn. Improvements will be coming rapidly though.

Monday is typically my light training day and today is no different, given that I am now on taper, my activities today have been ex light on. This morning it was down to Bicton Baths for a bit of a recovery swim and then this afternoon it was time for a massage.

The massage today was particularly good. I wasn't feeling sore or any niggles etc anywhere heading in, but at this point in my training I think there is always some stiffness or tightness somewhere. The massage tonight was all about finding those points and working them out before the weekend. I think it achieved that goal very nicely. Feeling good at the moment and hopefully even better in the morning.

Today wasn't only about physical tapering though, mental taper activities started today too. Today I put the finishing touches on my race plan, which means I can now start doing some visualization of how my day is planned to go. What I will do when my day doesn't follow that plan, how I will react, what my contingencies are if it starts to go wrong, what I will do if it goes dramatically right. Making sure the day doesn't throw me any unexpected developments.

As well as the race plan I have started finalising some of the other more mundane plans, printing out things like race day checklists, packing lists that sort of thing. Anything that I need to make sure my lead up to the race, race day eve and race morning are as stress free as they can be.

All getting very much down to the pointy end, the physical preparation has been done over the last few weeks and months. This week is all about rest and recovery, and doing those last few mental preparations to ensure I have done everything I can to have a fun and successful day out on Sunday.