Taper question for ironmen/women

[watchman]

A question for the veterans of ironman Distance races.
( you are a veteran even if done only one).

How did you do the taper before the race?

How many days out did you start?

how much cut back?

give me some thoughts.

My peak has been 100 mile bike Saturday, bike then Long run (15 miles+) Monday. Then 2.4 mile swim Tuesday after that time to cut back.

I am curious of different thoughts of everyone. I am sure there are many variations

share any thoughts you think would help

I am sure other will benefit

thanks

mike

[MattCollister]

3 weeks
Week 1 is 66% (ish) volume of peak week
Week 2 is 66% of week 1
Week 3 is half of week 2
maintain some interval training to keep your fast twitch muscles active

Consider increasing from two to three packs a day to counteract the increased anxiety and edginess

[watchman]

well that sure seems simple.

Is that what everyone else does?

thanks Matt

I am not sure what increasing from 2 to 3 packs a day means though.

Is this implying that during taper we are in withdrawls from training?

Like Cigs?

mike

[kenb321]

Mike, Matt was referring to cigarettes. This is a joke, he does not want you to smoke or begin smoking during your taper.

But you will get edgy and anxious during your taper. The body and mind get a little goofy when you decrease the activity level so quickly.

Also, be careful about calorie intake during your taper. You should be consuming about 4-5,000 calories a day right now. With the decrease in activity, you can cut back some on calories to avoid a taper weight gain.

[jimdehner]

Mike -
In addition to getting edgy as Ken points out - I always feel lethargic and lazy during the first part of the taper - that's pretty normal - That feeling goes away at the end of the taper - As Matt pointed out - you cut your volume but keep some intensity in your workout -

[watchman]

I do know I get more edgy when I miss even one workout.

What about a 5k race this Saturday?

it is short. Should be like speed work right?

mike

[Brandon]

For both my IM events my taper basically looked like this;

3 week taper. Ideally, peak volume (especially on bike) would be ~6 weeks out from event. Run volume would peak 4-5 weeks out. I decreased volume as follows:

Taper Week 1 - 90% of final build week
Taper Week 2 - 70% of final build week
Taper Week 3 - 60% of final build week

The decrease in volume was both weekly volume and duration of long swim/bike/run. I maintain frequency and intensity and perhaps increase intensity slightly (for very short intervals) during final 2 taper weeks to stay sharp.

Keep in mind these percentage decreases were dependent on my training volume being at a desired place (i.e. final build week being 4-5 hr. ride, 2 hr. run and 5K swim for long/key workouts). If my training was not there I would alter my taper. Example, if I felt I needed to get in a 6 hr/100 mile ride on final build week I would not ride 90 miles during 1st week of taper, but would rather be closer to 4 hr/75 miles.

Another consideration is that I would not recommend only a 10% reduction in volume if you have just finished 3 hard weeks of training or are overly fatigued (overreaching) from the previous couple of months. My plan had me coming in to the 90% volume week after 2 hard training weeks.

x2 on the advice about diet. I typically gain 2-4 lbs. during taper and should be more disciplined about my diet, or at least that is the plan for this year!