Taper Time!

With the race fast approaching, I am in the “taper” period, when I reduce my workouts, rest, recover, and grow stronger before the race. With this post, I hope to give you some idea of what goes into a good taper and how I will get myself to the start line as great of shape as I can.

Tapering is a difficult thing to get right, but it is just as important as the hard training to get here. In fact, the training and tapering are equally critical, and you can’t do one without the other. If I were to train hard right up to the race without resting, my body would be broken down and weakened by that hard work – not a great condition in which to attempt an Ironman! If I were to forego the hard work, the taper would not produce any results and I’d arrive at the race under-conditioned. Finding the right balance of hard work and effective rest is the goal.

I divide my three week taper up into three parts, gradually reducing my workouts to almost nothing the week of the race. The first week, immediately following my toughest peak week, is when I recover. I ran 10 miles on Tuesday night, swam 3 times during the week, and then had a shortened bike workout on Saturday of 50 miles. During this week, it is normal to feel a little sluggish with low energy and motivation. It’s important to remember that this is natural, to fight through it, and to look forward to the good times ahead.

A good analogy of how your body is repairing itself is to think of a car. After lots of workouts (driving), your body (the engine) needs to be repaired. To fix an engine, you need to turn it off and get to work. So, as my body repairs itself and spends all of its energy on these repairs, I feel a little flat and tired because the engine is off. During this period I will also shift my diet towards more and more protein. Protein contains the essential amino acids for muscle recovery and growth. I like to think of protein as a long-term energy investment; by increasing my protein intake, I am inducing more muscle growth, which will lead to more energy and strength when I need it on race day.

The 2nd week of the taper is the growth period when my energy will return and my body will focus on growing stronger. I will start to feel better with more energy. I will cut my workouts down even further to promote the muscle growth and strength gain. It will be important to also cut my calorie intake as I reduce my energy expenditure – I want my body processing food as efficiently as possible and loading up on too much is not the way to do this. My Tuesday night run during this week will only be five miles, and I will only cycle about 20 miles on the weekend. I will do these workouts with a slightly higher intensity to keep my body awake and my metabolism high. However, due to the shortened duration, I won’t stress my body too much and I will continue to grow stronger. By the end of the 2nd taper week, I hope to feel strong, rested, and almost ready to go.

The 3rd week of taper is the rest period. My body has recovered and grown stronger. Now is the time to conserve my energy and fuel my body for the enormous challenge a few days away. During the race week, I will swim a little bit, do some short jogging and cycling, and spend a lot of time stretching. This is also the time to travel to the race site, take care of registration, gear set-up, and freak out a little bit about the challenges ahead! I will also stay hydrated and shift my diet more towards carbohydrates and other good energy foods (bananas, peanut butter, legumes). These foods will give me more of an instant energy boost that I will be able to use during the race.

In the last few days leading up to the race, I hope to feel antsy and itching to go. I want to feel like I am going to jump out of my skin if the race doesn’t start soon. This strong feeling will hopefully lead to confidence and an excited mind frame for the race. With this attitude and a solid race day game plan, I should be ready to have a great race.