How much (if at all) do you taper for a non-A race?
877
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251 days
TriSooner posted 12 weeks ago.
Since it is not an A race, it is therefore a training day. As such, train right up through and immediately after it. Taper for your A race.
3330
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1316 days
RV posted 12 weeks ago.
Train through - if not an 'A' race.
I am training for IMWI (Sept 8'th) and have a HIM race this weekend. The only change that I am making for the race is that I will skip my scheduled LR on Thursday morning and effectively just move it to Sunday - and do it as part of the race.
Saturday the day before the race I am doing a 4.5 hour bike with some FT (functional threshold) work in there.
Obviously the run in the race is shorter, but will be at a higher intensity so kind of evens out.
Also Sunday I would be doing a 3.5 hr bike anyway - so again this will be shorter but higher overall intensity.
And Monday, I am back on the normal training schedule.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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351 days
Toothless posted 12 weeks ago.
+1 for training through it. Have fun and use it to work on transitions. It's also good practice for executing a race-day gameplan.
1123
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889 days
UFTriGator posted 12 weeks ago.
I think there should be a little more gray area than a black-and-white "A-race or training day". Racing gives you valuable experience that you can't get during a normal training day, so you should want to race well every time you race. On the other hand, you can really only have a few really solid tapers each year, so what to do for those "other" races can be a little tricky. A sort of mini-taper will let you have a good race where you can gain that valuable experience that you'll later be using for you A-race, but still keep your body in training mode. For a Sunday race, my race week for a non-A-race might look like this:
T:Hard bike workout (1.5 hrs), 5000m hard swim, 40 min ez run, abs
W:60 min hard fartlek run, 4500m med/hard swim, 1.5 hr ez spin, conditioning
R:2000m ez swim, 1.5 hr ez w/pick-ups, 30 min ez run, abs
F:20 min ez swim, 30 min ez run
S:20 min ez run on course, 40 min ez spin on course, 20 min ez swim OW
S:race
the next three days gradually building back into normal training
I usually have a 20-25 hr week, so you'll probably have to adjust the volume, but you can kind of see what goes on during the week: normal training up until about three days prior, then slide in easy to the race.
The race itself is a good (i.e., very hard) workout in itself where you can not only gain experience, but fitness as well. Having a strong race and a good recovery is worth at least a couple of hard days of training. You can't just jump into your A-race with no other races under your belt (well, you could, but you'd be better off if you didn't). You also shouldn't just blow off a race....your body won't learn how to race and your A-race will still be just another "training day" even if you don't want it to be.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
749
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787 days
tsilcyc posted 12 weeks ago.
I normally front load the week and race the best I can. I consider them all races but only taper for an A race.
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1206 days
nyfan21 posted 12 weeks ago.
I am doing an Olympic on Saturday and training for a HIM. I guess it depends upon if you are going hard on your non-A race event. If you plan on going hard then I would taper 1-2 days. If not then don't taper at all.
I am going to taper 2 days before the Olympic because I plan on going at this B-race hard.
-M
7
Member
401 days
KT-tri posted 11 weeks ago.
Agree w/ UFTriGator... I just did a HIM last Saturday (Macon) and have a sprint that is the local race, not an A race, but always like to race hard b/c family and friends are there. I'll go easy Thursday and Friday...do same amount of running/biking/swimming, but just ease off a little.
For an oly, I'll front load the week and then depending on how hard I want to race and travel distance, ease off on intensity the 2 days prior to the race.
Good luck, race hard ALWAYS, and have fun!
506
Member
223 days
jsk85 posted 11 weeks ago.
I think you tell yourself to ease up...it's more of a B/C race in mindset...Once they shoot the gun/tell you to start. I think the majority of us are going to push it...I mean it's racing, competition...you're going to go hard.
The B/C race designation to me is really only in terms of preparation and mindset
REAL EXAMPLE: Have an Olympic coming up this Sunday. And I know the "book-solution" is to taper off this week. So I'm always torn because, being in this sport, our personality-types make us:
1. Enjoy training
AND
2. Want to always do well in any race.
Two conflicting desires. So about this time of the week before any non-A race, I'm going through the conflict of wanting to continue to "play" (i.e., swim, bike, and run as per normal) but also knowing I should back off so I can hammer on Sunday.
How do you guys resolve this? Just train straight-through and only taper for a couple of tris or marathons per year? Or taper by-the-book for every race?