3 Ways Triathletes Screw up their Taper

Peak racing season for triathlon means there are many triathletes out there who are currently going insane in the tapering phase of their training programs. Arguably the most important aspect of any solid training program, very few athletes “get it” when it comes to effectively tapering before their race. Says 6-time Ironman World Champion, Mark Allen:

When athletes start to give themselves rest, the system in the body that responds to stress (which is the system that allows you to get up for big workouts) starts to shut down. This is like working on the engine of your car. You cannot give the engine an overhaul while it is running. You have to shut it off.

Here are the most common things athletes do to rob themselves of the full benefits tapering can offer:

1. They don’t allow enough time to taper
   
2. They don’t reduce volume enough in taper
   
3. They reduce intensity during taper

The memories in your brain may be able to help you cram for a test, but the memory within your muscles isn’t that sharp. A solid tapering program takes several (read “more than 3”) weeks in order to be effective. Some athletes only reduce their training volume a week (or worse, a few days!) before the big dance. But you can’t blame them – shortly after tapering begins, athletes will feel sluggish and heavy. Some will lose motivation to continue training, as their bodies power down to repair.

Then, not-so-slowly, athletes get paranoid that they are losing fitness and gaining poundage by the minute. So they sneak in an extra swim at the pool or an hour-long run on an off day. This prevents the mini-tears in muscle fibers and strained ligaments from healing and hanging on to the strength they’d built up. Reducing the volume of training during taper period is vital to maximize your energy stores and neuromuscular systems for race day.

In the opposite end of the spectrum, there are athletes that mistake “reduction” for “vacation” and reduce both intensity and volume of workouts during taper. I committed this sin two years ago before the Nike Women’s Marathon by skipping workouts and short tempo runs in favor of Parisian cafes and shopping. This is quite easy to do, if you’re an endurance athlete used to the endorphins released by constant exercise. The body stops receiving these ‘happy’ signals and gets depressed. Motivation to train is lost, and the little voice that says “you’ve worked hard, take some time off!” [My] Google research shows that short, intense workouts help athletes maintain their fitness level and also build up the short-twitch muscles responsible for race day speed.

So if you are tapering for your race, be sure you back off early, get enough rest and make those shorter workouts count!

Online Resources:

Training Online

Trifuel.com

Active.com