08 November 2011

Tuesday 8 November 2011 - Trust in the Taper

Trust in the taper... Trust in the taper... Trust in the taper...
For the past 3 months (or longer) of swim training, I have gradually, slowly, steadily gotten slower. It has been an extended exercise in frustration. And it doesn't help that my training partner continues to get stronger and faster in the pool. Work hard, train consistently, stay vigilant with technique - you expect to see improvement at some point. When all you see is a slow erosion of your speed at every distance you swim, you begin to wonder. You have doubts about how you're training. You wonder if somehow your technique has changed for the worse. At 55 you begin to think that maybe age is catching up with you.
Trust in the taper...
The taper began last week. It wasn't all that evident in the length and intensity of the workouts, although some of them did tend to be slightly shorter in duration. The biggest difference was the stopping of strength training. It was the first of 3 weeks of no weights or resistance exercises. This past first week the difference was barely noticeable. The bike and run workouts actually felt no different. Only on Sunday during the 5000 yard swim workout did I see an incremental change. It wasn't much but it had me feeling like I would be okay after all. During the set of 9 x 300 Freestyle I could consistently hold a pace that was 1 or 2 seconds faster per hundred than the previous week.
Trust in the taper...
This is the start of the 2nd week of tapering. This morning's swim of 2500 yards was a full 1000 yards shorter than the previous week's Tuesday morning swim. The 9 x 100's Free were at a pace that I haven't been able to approach in the last 6 months. On top of that, the amount of time needed to recover between 100's was amazingly short. That's a clear indication that the two important components of speed and endurance are coming around and will be there come race day.
Trust in the taper...
Even though I've been an athlete and a coach for quite some time, when you're in the midst of it all it can be hard to have perspective. In spite of the frustration I continued to train hard, hoping that the taper would take care of it. With confidence flagging a little I also tried to keep it in perspective: the swim is about an hour out of an 11 or 12 hour day so if it didn't come together it would mean a barely noticeable 3 or 4 minutes longer in the water. Now, seeing that the taper is indeed working it's magic, my confidence in my ability to reach for my goals is returning. The bike segment will probably come together as well. The amount of time I've spent in the saddle seems to be almost 10% more than in previous years. Will it pay off? My hope is that I'll be able to maintain my speed with less effort, leaving more for the run.
Trust in the taper...
The run will be a big question mark. The heel pain has kept me from running for longer than 40 minutes at a time. This has been the worst prep leading into an Ironman that I've had compared to any of the previous 3. The one plus is that more of it has been on elliptical, with a much more limited amount done as water running. Still, running on solid ground or even a treadmill is bound to yield better results than training on the elliptical machine. Regardless of this I have a strong belief and high level of confidence in my physical and mental abilities. What that means is that I haven't ruled out the potential for doing the marathon in a PB (personal best). I can only wait and see how this "old" body will respond. One thing I know for sure is that I...
Trust in the taper!

1 comment:

  1. Although not as experienced as you, I remember the taper being the hardest part. You will do your best, which is great!!

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