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Tapering

Hi everybody,



I have just completed my first sprint distance triathlon over the weekend in a little under 1h20 which was relatively pleasing but the major problem I had was the tapering in my final weeks.



In the 10 days before the event I started to ease off the trainig down to 50% or so of my normal training load. The problem was this made me feel like crap, I began feeling very lethargic and in particular the muscles in my legs became incredibly tight to the point where the about 4-5 days before the event I had to start doing more training to get them to loosen up.



I come from a running background and it used to be the same before running races. In fact my pb for the half marathon came 3 weeks after another race where i trained constantly between the events.



I know the prevailing advice is to taper but I often wonder whether i would benefit from tapering much less or perhaps not at all other than maybe my usual day off. What do people think of this? Does anyone else have this problem? How do other people feel when they taper?



Cheers,



Sam

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    gaterz1981gaterz1981 Posts: 233
    My only reference to this subject comes from timetrialling, my PB last year came the day after i had my arse cycled out by a fellow cyclist.



    After a day of little or no excercise i sieze up bad and can barely walk. Its not a nice feeling. Do whatever feels good for you, your body lets you know when you do something it doesnt agree with.
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    WannabetriWannabetri Posts: 219
    I tend to prioritise races through the season and taper accoridngly. How long I taper for is also dependent on the length of the race. A sprint - I would only look to taper for a week maximum, maybe even 4 days. An Olympic - I tend to do a taper for 10 days.



    To throw a spanner in the works, my Olympic PB came off a two week injury followed by one week rehab and one week 'taper', literally cos I didn't want to have paid and not raced! Go figure that out! [image]http://forum.220magazine.com/micons/m12.gif[/image]

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    BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    The article on tapering in this month's magazine is really interesting. One of the pros they refer to maintains his normal training volume in his taper (ie distances) but he cuts right back on the effort level.



    I guess that means long easy bikes and runs, lots of slow stretching strokes in the pool.



    Might suit you guys who really don't know what to do with yourselves when it comes to taper week? [:D]



    Me... I focus all my energy on carb-loading. Mmmmm.... Curry + whole rice.
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