Tapering for a 24 miler

I’m preparing for the 24 mile Tampa Bay Marathon Swim on April 21 and I’m trying to figure out a taper plan. Here’s my background. I’m 50 years old, swam around 25,000 yards/week in 2011 and have averaged around 36,000 yards/week in 2012 with some long swims on weekends. The last 5 weeks I’ve been at 40,000+ yards/meters. My longest pool swim has been 17,500 yards and my longest open water has been 10 miles.
My questions: When should I do my last long swim? When should I dial down the intensity of my pool workouts? What type of swimming should I do the week leading up to the swim? I’m open to all suggestions.
CB
My questions: When should I do my last long swim? When should I dial down the intensity of my pool workouts? What type of swimming should I do the week leading up to the swim? I’m open to all suggestions.
CB
Comments
For myself, I aim to dial down volume but not necessarily intensity. I like to get my heart-rate up - but not for so long that it fatigues me. I do lots of pace work in the pool. 100s & 200s on ample rest - trying to see how fast I can go while still feeling relatively smooth & effortless. As the taper progresses I watch my pace times gradually drop as my body becomes increasingly rested.
3 weeks before race day sounds about right for a final big training swim.
Another thing I'd say is that a full, 2-3 week taper isn't effective more than about twice per year. Any more frequently than that and you start crossing over from "well-rested" to "losing fitness." So, last year when I did four major swims, I did more of a 5-7 day "rest" for each, rather than a full taper.
... I digress
I am no longer in search of the perfect taper, and only hope to be "rested enough"...to get the job done.
...anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
The one time I think I actually tapered was right before the Dart 10K. Up to then, I'd been doing an occassional 2-2.5 hour 'long' swim on the weekend. I stopped those about 3 weeks prior to the 10K. Also, cut some of my usual weekday workouts down in yardage. However, I have no idea if that helped or not. My 10K was tide-assisted, so no real idea how I would have done in a 'flat' 10k.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
"I never met a shark I didn't like"
The last couple days before the swim are whatever you feel is necessary, but focusing on taking it easy! At that point, I always found it difficult to just make sure I was sleeping enough, and relaxing. "THE TRAINING IS DONE" I would repeat to myself...
www.darren-miller.com
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
www.darren-miller.com
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.A.
I would like to add, now that I’m older (I’m 51), rest and recovery has really become a lot more important. After peaking at around 50k per week, I plan a three week taper for my next marathon swim.
I have a hard time staying FOCUSED. Plus when I have more energy from slightly shorter workouts, it is extra hard for me to stay focused!
This is my first taper for such a long swim (TBMS)...when I tapered for 12 mile Charleston, I felt tired the ENTIRE time. Until maybe two days before the swim. This time I haven't felt tired, but I have been hungry, eating a lot, and have mysteriously lost a little more weight.
WIth a little over a week left to go, I'll have a two back to back three mile swims this Saturday/Sunday, then really taking it easy and play the mental waiting game next week.
To make it worse..I have to give a standardized test on Monday and Tuesday too!!
It seems like I've followed a similar taper to a lot of other people who have already posted. I swear the mental part is the most difficult!
I'm swimming the GCBS and wondering if I should plan a more formal taper instead of just planning an "easy" week the week before the siwm.
In my own case tapering from 40k weeks takes about two weeks.
Recreational triathletes who only swim 10 or 12ish k per week need 1 or 2 days of taper.
As a distance swimmer since 10 years old, I require much less and shorter rests than those who swim the 50. The Saturday prior to the meet/race would be the last workout before taper. Sundays were usually off, but I will swim a glorified warm-up until I felt good. This would stave off the Monday morning blahs after usually taking Sunday off. Monday becomes the beginning of a crash taper and I would max out at 5000. Typically long stuff like I had been doing. If it's a pool meet, I would throw in some pace work. Tuesday and Wednesday are 4500 and 4000, respectively. Thursday is 3-3500. Thursday or Friday is a travel day. I would try to find a place to swim in order to get the plane ride out of my system. Friday is 3000 or about a half-hour. As they say, "the hay is in the barn".
It's mentally tough to taper because of all the hard work you've done and feel that by coming down your being a week slacker. Not true. Have confidence in your training and fitness. It will be there at mile 20, so don't worry.
For an OW taper, you won't necessarily feel fast because you haven't been training for speed. Sometimes this is also hard to understand and can grind on you mentally. Again, don't worry.
Here's my taper week for my EC swim. (I went by time in the water because the distance in Dover Harbor was hard to measure/understand.) I got to Dover on a Saturday AM and swam on the following Saturday.
Saturday: 30 mins
Sunday AM: 2.5 hours
Monday AM: 2 hours
PM: 30 mins
Tuesday AM: 2 hours
Wednesday AM: 1:30
PM: 30 mins
Thursday AM: 1 hour
PM: 30 mins
Friday AM: 30 mins
PM: splash around for a bit
Saturday: race day
Hope this helps.
PM: splash around for a bit
That sounds like what I do everyday...
For the OW swims I have done since deciding indoor 100m races etc werent really that exciting any more, I reckon the taper is focussed on getting yourself clear of aches and niggles, getting out of the sense of dog-tired-ness from heavy training and getting some focus and optimism on the imminent event. Throw a nice massage in too.
If you've done the training, and can be honest with yourself that you have, then I'd recommend the Suziedods approach. For the EC that might have been an hour or two max within a ten days of the swim, swimming only as long as you're enjoying it.
Oh and not a bad idea to practice the concept of the taper on something other than your first really big, long iconic swim.....
Tapering for pool swimmers is about comparison to the rest of the season, but it is exaggerated even more going into a channel-length swim because your season high workouts are (should be) skyrocketing.
Hope its ok to post this question in this thread, but how does a taper plan change when there is more than one "big swim" in a summer season? I will be swimming Anacapa in 2 weeks and the length of Tahoe 2 weeks after that. I have been training about 60k per week and have the inclination to train up to and through Anacapa. Given that the first swim is half the distance of the second one, what would you do if this was you?
If it were me: A 3-day drop-rest before Anacapa so you feel at least little fresh. Then think of Anacapa as a last long training swim before your full taper for Tahoe. For the drop-rest: 45-minute "loosen" each day with a few 100s of pace work.