Journey to Kona Day 119: Taper Musings

Typically, one thinks of tapering for an ironman in the final 2-3 weeks prior to the race.  A couple of years ago, I came across an approach that took into account different tapers for each discipline.  Running, with the pounding inherent to it, is typically looked at from the perspective of a traditional marathon taper, which is typically 3-4 weeks.  The idea is that the last long run be done no less than 3 weeks prior to Ironman.  Of course, the is based on the typical marathon, not a marathon that occurs after a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike.  How does that effect the taper?  Actually, I have no clue, but I do know that an Ironman marathon doesn't actually beat my legs up as much as an "open" marathon. Why?  Because you just can't pound the legs as hard in an Ironman run.  Does this allow for a different approach to the run taper?  I doubt it.  Either way, the goal is to come into race day with fresh legs.  My last truly long run (3 hours) was 4 weeks prior to race day.  However, I backed that up with another semi-long run (1 hour and 40 minutes) 2 weeks prior to race day.  This seems about right! One of the key balance points is to keep the legs fresh, but to also keep them neuromuscularly ready for race day.  That's probably as much an art as it is a science.  Yesterday's run felt "just right," and I'll try to continue to "glide" my way into race day over the next several days.  Three years ago, I ran 6 miles just four days prior to my best ironman run ever (based not on time, but on how many people I passed).  The key is that whatever I do, I shouldn't feel fatigued from it. The fact that I napped the last two days tells me that I've still got some fatigue, but that I'm also resting plenty!

The bike taper is even more complex.  Cycling doesn't pound the legs like running does.  Furthermore, Tour de France riders notoriously have problems on days after a rest day.  Which begs the question.  How to taper for the bike?  My last truly long bike was three weeks prior to race day, and then I backed that up with an olympic distance hard bike effort the next day.  What's definitely different for me for my upcoming race is that one and two weeks prior to race day, I rode over 3 hours on the course.  I've never done that before.  My focus was not riding hard, but riding comfortably at an effort that was at or perhaps slightly below ironman effort (I'm not too sure about that one, but we'll find out on race day!).  My legs have felt fine through all this, and again, my naps have helped resolve any fatigue brought on by these rides.  Today's one hour ride on the course was also something new for me, as typically my bike is being transported and isn't available.  It felt great to ride!  I now assume that I have one more similar ride to go in a couple of days. This is all about neuromuscular activation.

And now we come to the swim.  I don't think that you typically taper for a swim 3 weeks in advance. Traditionally, swim tapers should be less than week in length.  Since I've never really put in significant swim volume, "tapering" has been a bit of an oxymoron for me.  With that said, my best swim ever occurred five days after an hour and 25 minute VASA swim trainer session.  I've put in more swim volume in the weeks leading up to Boulder than I've ever put in before.  Twelve days prior to race day, I did a 4600 yard swim. Yesterday, I swam 2000 yards and today I swam 3200 yards.  It feels right.  I do get that swimming will bring on some fatigue, but I can still nap if necessary.  However, I think that my swim taper starts tomorrow, five days prior to race day.  The idea will be to reduce my volume every day, but to swim every day in order to maintain my "feel" for the water.  Clearly some "trial and error" involved in this, but I doubt that I can go too wrong with this approach.

I'm also paying close attention to my body.  My low back has a tendency to spasm right about now, and I've actually felt some twinges.  I must be cautious with movements that might set that off, and gentle stretching and massage of the area.  The number one focus must be in reducing fatigue.  If I'm tired, I need to sleep.  That's what I did yesterday and the day before.  There are no excuses for not listening to my body! With six days to go before race day, I can now say that I'm finally in full taper mode.  Time to glide the body in for a soft landing on race day.  Mentally, I couldn't be in a better place, and I'm ready to leave everything out there on the course on Sunday.  That's all I ever ask of myself.