What your taper should look like
In sports parlance, a taper refers to a period of reduced training load that you undertake prior to an important competition. And the purpose of this period of reduced training load is to decrease the accumulated physical and mental fatigue of training before race day without losing the training adaptations you hope to use on race day.
As a triathlete for over two decades and a coach for the last six years, I can tell you that getting the taper period right is both incredibly important and very difficult for age group athletes. Not only do we need to factor in the accumulated training fatigue but we also need to factor in our other life commitments and how those affect our ability to be ready to perform on race day.
In addition, it is also important to remember that every body is different. Just as each athlete has a different preference for nutrition and hydration products, so too does each athlete’s taper takes a different approach. Generic taper strategies will get you generic results. The goal is for you to be fit and fresh on race day. Too much training and you will be fit and fatigued. Too little training and you will be somewhat detrained.
As athletes of mine approach their “A” races for the year, here are a few things that I consider:
Do zones need to be updated? If an athlete is looking to qualify or race for the podium and it has been over 4 months since we did performance testing, then it might be time to retest. A few tests that I find helpful with high performance athletes are: blood lactate testing for the bike and run, Vo2 Calorie expenditure testing for the bike, and Advanced Sweat Testing. If an athlete is looking to complete the race, then it still might be appropriate to retest especially if the athlete last tested over 4 months ago, is newer to the sport/distance, and has seen major body composition changes.
Do we adjust intensity, volume, or frequency? This depends on the race distance, the race outcome desired, and how the training block has gone. Generally for long course racing, I like the taper period to be 3-5 weeks starting immediately after the last Key Workout Weekend. The first week of the taper is focused on a decrease in intensity and volume, the second through fourth weeks see a decrease in volume and intensity (but include some brief high end efforts on the bike and run), and race week is about freshening up (same frequency, but low intensity and volume). And generally for short course racing, I like the taper period to be 2-3 days to 2 weeks with the focus primarily on decreasing volume but keeping intensity. For both long and short course racing, I like to increase swim volume and race day skill practice.
Can we increase recovery modalities? As training volume decreases and to promote recovery, can the athlete adjust their daily nutrition and hydration to match the decreased training load? Can the athlete get a massage or two? Can the athlete increase their overall sleep time and commit to good sleep hygiene practices? If traveling across time zones for the race, can the athlete start to shift their sleep time toward the race time zone?
Can the athlete remained focused? As the taper period progresses, it means less time training and increased recovery time. Sometimes, I have seen athletes go into race day with extra fatigue because they used the decreased training time to increase their home project or family/friends time. I’ve seen athletes show up to race day with a sore backs and blisters on their hands from house projects or deteriorations in body composition from increased eating and alcohol consumption. Save the house projects and alcohol consumption for after the race!
Can the athlete play the mental game? As training load decreases, the mental “what if” game can start to take over. When this happens, it is important to trust the process that you and your coach have agreed upon and to get good at practicing mindfulness and visualization. Take at least 10 minutes each day (that would be used for training regularly) and work on calming down the part of you mind that freaks out. And begin visualizing race day practices: what you will eat and drink for breakfast, do a mental walk through of T1 & T2, mentally practice solving problems like broken goggles, a flat tire, or dropped nutrition.
Keep in mind that the taper period is specific for each individual athlete. Work with your coach to set up a good taper plan while also listening to what your body needs to be race ready!
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Jim Rowe is a Playtri Level 5 Coach and Coach Education Lead, a USAT LI Certified Coach, an NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and an Ironman and 70.3 World Championship Qualifier who works with adult athletes who are chasing PRs, moving up to long course racing, or want to qualify for a world championship. Learn more about Jim at www.playtri.com/jim-rowe.