The Taper

This week athletes training for Hy-Vee should be going through a taper week where the volume is cut down to 50% of their normal volume, interspersed with a few short intense workouts. The taper is one of the hardest phases of any sport because typical thoughts are "if I could do one more long bike, swim, or run", or "if I had one more brick", I would be ready. I've had these thoughts in the past, but not near as much this year. Maybe because I know that "one more killer workout" isn't going to do any good, and could end up causing more damage on race day. Perhaps its because I know that I trained for this race, and I'm ready. One of the hardest thing about the taper is an athlete isn't used to such small volume, and may grow restless and want to put in a hard workout. The purpose of the taper is to repair those muscles to full potential this week, maintain fitness with a few short workouts, and consume fuel for your energy stores so on race day you are at your full potential and ready to race. Relax this week, feel good about yourself about the work you've put into this race, mentally prepare yourself for the race, and get ready for Sunday!