Taper Time

So I have been doing something for the last 7 days which I haven't done for quite some. I have been tapering.

If I am honest it has been a bit of a half hearted taper, I have been tapering, but only kind of, sort of.

The reason for the taper is that believe it or not I am racing tomorrow. Shock and amazements all around I know.

Don't have to go too crazy though, the race is a paddle race rather than a triathlon and so the level of physical exertion being requested isn't quite in the same ball park, about 40 minutes of work spread over three races rather than 4 hours of work in a single race. However, it is still a race, and one that I would like to do well and so, therefore, I am tapering.

My tapering model follows the fairly classic version that I use for triathlon too, basically a reduction in volume and a reduction in some intensity duration, but not cold turkey. In fact I have done a little bit of exercise every day this week, which is what is usually recommended for a taper.

The taper hasn't been particularly planned (hence the earlier comment of kind of, sort of), but rather I have taken what I usually do and reduced it. As I have gone through the week I have kept an eye on TrainingPeaks to see its predicted form and fatigue. If I have been looking a bit too fatigued I have trained a bit lighter the next day, if the fatigue looks good then I have trained a bit more. You get the idea.

If I am honest the taper hasn't been all that well executed, which is entirely my own fault. I have probably trained a it more than I should have in some of my sessions and gone a bit too hard in others. Plus, when you don't plan something well, you can't exactly complain when the outcome isn't what you hoped for. I would never advocate the approach I have taken for any of my athletes, always better off with a well planned taper, particularly for long events like Triathlon where you want to be as rested and fresh as possible. However, for my purposes for this event I was happy to wing it to a certain extend, as it stands I am holding more fatigue that I usually would heading into a triathlon, but given the duration of the events I think I will be fine. Plus, there are hardly sheep stations on the line, so if I bomb out because my arms are tired then I am fairly happy to suck it up and get on with life. Pacing one of these races badly just results in 10 minutes of discomfort, rather than 2 hours.

So we shall see how it goes. These events are small and quite relaxed compared to your average triathlon which is quite refreshing. However, while they are small, people are there to do well and so I am keen to give it a good go. While I haven't tapered as much as I perhaps should have, I certainly have tapered a bit and so I am fresher than I usually am, plus I have been training well. Fingers crossed for a good morning out.