I am racing a 70.3 on August 1st and I have not started my taper yet. I raced an oly on the 17th and only tapered 2 days for that which is all I normally do for short races. I did what I thought was going to be an easy 70 mile point ride on Sunday the 18th and I ended up riding into a head wind for 48 miles and “accidentallly” rode over a steep 5 mile mountain pass that I did not know was on the route. My ride was waiting on the other side of the pass so I was committed. This wore me out so I took Monday off. I ran 8 miles in the morning on Tuesday and biked 24 miles in the evening. I noticed my speed was lower while riding at the same effort level as I usually do on this route. I swam 2100 yards on Wednesday morning at a steady pace doing 100,200,300,400,500,600 with 15-30 seconds rest in between each interval. I ran 10 miles this morning and thought about how to start the taper. For some reason I thought a 5 day taper is sufficient for a HIM. I raced a HIM on June 20th with a 5 fsy taper and had a good race for the “B” race. I have spent more time on the bike than usual since that race because I have been obsessed with riding in the North Cascade Mountains this year. I have the best base I have every had and don’t feel that fatigued at the moment.
I am wondering what I should do in the next 10 days to prepare for the race. The reason I ran so much this week is because I feel my running volume has been down do to the extra biking. I am a middle of the pack swimmer, a top 10% biker and a top 30% runner. The race will be in 90 degree heat and I seem to do well in the heat despite my 6’3", 187 pound frame with a somewhat broad bone structure.
This is my last 70.3 race of the season and is an “A” race.
Any and all advice will be appreciated for this self-coached triathlete.
That’s really a hard question to answer…there are so many variables.
I just PR’d a HIM last Sunday. I did my normal volume and intensity through Wednesday of race week. thurs, Fri an Sat were all at what i would consider in “taper” mode.
10 days seems like a long time to "taper’ for a HIM
That’s really a hard question to answer…there are so many variables.
I just PR’d a HIM last Sunday. I did my normal volume and intensity through Wednesday of race week. thurs, Fri an Sat were all at what i would consider in “taper” mode.
10 days seems like a long time to "taper’ for a HIM
That’s good to know. I was thinking 5 days. I traditionally don’t do anything the day before the race.
With that said you are only averaging 11 hour weeks so there isn’t much to taper in the first 4 days of that. You are probably near 8 hours for this week by now and it looks like your hard work is done. I would finish off the normal weekly volume without blasting yourself on sunday.
After that SBR as you feel trying to keep some frequency so you don’t get jittery.
I bet you will be fine though I doubt 3 hours of biking is a good idea 7 days before a race you want to crush.
I would swim & bike very short and easy Monday; Do even less than you have planned Thursday & Friday; In fact swim a little or do ZIP on Friday (not a 40 min run!); … And try to fit in short, mostly easy workouts in all 3 disciplines (20-25 min each) the day before the race to keep loose and make sure your bike is all set, etc.
30-90 sec. pickups (close to sprint tri. effort) in all 3 sports are good during the last week too, but do only 4 or 5 surges (not 8 or 10) … This is all very common taper advice but it works. Good luck!
I have an IM in 15 days… I’m scared I won’t taper enough or I won’t train enough for it… One IM plan I have says to do 100 mile bike this Saturday then 60 the next Saturday, plus a ton of other stuff, then the race in a week. I’m probably averaging 13 - 16 hours a week of training, closer to 13. But, have been doing that for 10 months straight probably.
You yourself are going to have to decide whether that volume is right for you. If you are feeling like crxp then by all means go lighter. To me it seems high but I am not an IM coach anyway, I’m more tuned to HIM training.
Riding your bike within your abilities is what will set you up for a good IM run. Make your bike plan realistic and stick to the plan. If you are too tired going into the race from riding 100 miles 2 weeks before then you are going to have a long miserable day. I would rather go into the event undertrained than overtrained.
Look up posts from guys like desert dude and jonnyo about IM training. Some days I look up what they are saying just to educate myself.
I looked at the website, is it logical to taper more for IM then for a sprint? I have the feeling that you need to be more sharp for sprint then for IM, so I think you need more taper as well for a sprint.
Most people think that you have to train more for an IM than a sprint.
If you want to be the very best that you can, you would have to train to your max potential reguardless of what the race distance is. If your max sustainable training time is 20 hours a week it doesn’t make a difference if you are racing IM or a sprint, you should be training 20 hours per week.
Now do people train 20 hours for a sprint? No because they can get away with training less but they are also not training to be the best that they can. People don’t realize (and most likely don’t care) that they are giving away a few minutes in a sprint by not training to their max volume.
So if someone was truely training to their max volume, it wouldn’t make a difference what race distance they were training for, the taper would most likely be the same volumes. The make up of those volumes would change though.
What really bothers me is when someone is training for a HIM and is able to complete so many hours a week because that’s all they can recover from, they want to move up to IM distance and think that they are magically going to be able to train 1.5 times more.
Most people think that you have to train more for an IM than a sprint.
If you want to be the very best that you can, you would have to train to your max potential reguardless of what the race distance is. If your max sustainable training time is 20 hours a week it doesn’t make a difference if you are racing IM or a sprint, you should be training 20 hours per week.
Now do people train 20 hours for a sprint? No because they can get away with training less but they are also not training to be the best that they can. People don’t realize (and most likely don’t care) that they are giving away a few minutes in a sprint by not training to their max volume.
So if someone was truely training to their max volume, it wouldn’t make a difference what race distance they were training for, the taper would most likely be the same volumes. The make up of those volumes would change though.
What really bothers me is when someone is training for a HIM and is able to complete so many hours a week because that’s all they can recover from, they want to move up to IM distance and think that they are magically going to be able to train 1.5 times more.
jaretj, thanks for your response and the links, will definitely study them…
i think i’m going to back off some and try to get fresh again… at the end of a long week last week, i did a 112 mile bike ride last week at 21 mph and psychologically couldn’t imagine having to run a marathon after that… i think the only thing that will help me on race day is to be fresher.
