Our tri club sponsors an annual sprint tri training program, the objective of which is basically to take a green newbie starting in June and get them prepared to successfully complete a sprint distance tri in October. The weekly workouts consist of a topic discussion (how to maintain your bike, do transitions, nutrition, etc.) followed by a combination swim and/or bike and/or run workout.
I will be leading the discussion the last Sunday before the race (the race is on a Saturday.) My goal is to walk them through everything they should or should not do in that last week, all the way up till when the gun goes off. One of the topics I want to discuss is tapering. I basically want to get them to back off their training so they are fresh on race day, but without getting stiff or out of shape.
Any suggestions on a taper plan? Remember, these are mostly newbies.
My humble experience is to not make it any more complicated than it has to be for the first-timers. I was at a race last weekend that had a lot of anxious newbies…particularly a lot of teeth-gnashing about the swim. I remember that was me several years ago at my first tri.
The two schools of tapering that I have experience with dictated a:
Three-day taper for any “B” or “C” sprint raceA full-week taper for an “A” race where you do a low volume, moderate intensity session in 2 or 3 sports on the same day, every other day and a full day of rest in between. The day before the race, you do a brief 10-15-minute session of all three events with a few sprints/pick-ups.
The other school of thought was a full two-week taper before a big race.I think that once folks get a few races under their belts, they kind of know how to listen to their bodies and will intuitively know what to do going into a race. I think going Olympic and up in distance involves a lot more thought than a sprint.
Tricky as tapers are very individual and aren’t as important for just finishing a short event. I had my best result in a sprint to date on the day after doing an olympic (which I PR’d at). Anything that gets them to back off a bit is probably good.
For what you’re talking about, there is little need for a “taper”. Maybe a few days easy or rest days, but at the level these people will be at the only thing they have to really worry about is doing something to F up the race, like a 10 mile run the day before.
For me, the goal when introducing any person to any athetic endeavor s to get them to keep going with the training and make it part of ther lives. KISS is the best way for them to really enjoy the event and the training. Don’t get them worried abou tall the things that can go wrong, and get them to focus on the work they did over the months. Money in the bank. The last week will have little efect on the event itself, unless they do something to really F it up.
I would give them an easy week before the race and call it good. Make sure they know that by that point, the hey is in the barn, and they’ll be happy and not worry about the last week and trying to get in more workouts. Trying to make it a three day or 5day or whatever taper will just raise questions that they dont need to worry about.
Ah. I recall that first sprint tri. Most of us were still nervous about our fitness in one or more sport, and were highly tempted to “cram” some final, hard workouts into those last 10 days.
Our coach’s “taper” lecture was critical in talking us out of cramming and preparing us mentally for the taper experience.
Some things to perhaps introduce,
hay is in the barn metaphor,
the idea that it takes ~10 days for the body to fully benefit from any given workout,
so if you go too long or hard in the last 7-10 days you might be causing more fatigue than incremental fitness,
remind them how recovery is critical to gaining fitness,
do say that they still need to “keep moving” during taper week (shortened workouts) to feel fresh for the race,
maybe give them a limit for how long to train on a given day during taper week, (especially for running), if they don’t have a written program,
remind them about proper eating, sleeping, not getting sunburnt/being on their feet too much the day prior,
prepare them mentally for the taper experience - how they might feel doubtful, or sluggish, or be bouncing off the walls,
how they can redirect that energy into reviewing how much work they’ve done over the summer, how they’re ready, and how to visualize the perfect race.
Another thing: They will be nervous already. Instead of scaring them with 100 things “not to do,” maybe rephrase each one into the positive, “to do.”
