Taper Interrupted

Wildflower Long Course Triathlon '06
I finished 5th (AGAIN - 3rd year in a row) in my AG and recorded a personal best by a mere 35 seconds... what's that? A couple of hundred yards?

Most coaches recommend a 3-10 day taper for an event as long as a half-ironman. Since this was not a key race, my coach recommended that I go into the race completely untapered... I did not skip a single workout, hard session in the week prior to the race.

How did this change my race?
I don’t think the hard Thursday bike intervals or easy run on Friday hurt my bike power but it made me feel like I was “working” the entire way. The non-taper probably impacted my run performance the most… my legs never quite got going, even during my favorite section from mile 7-10, which is net downhill and I usually feel like I’m flying. I was about a minute slower on the run compared to last year. I got off the bike in second place and was passed in the first 4 miles by two women in my AG and by a third woman in the last, downhill mile… there was no way (recovery purposes) that I was going to hammer down that last hill!

The non-taper thing is interesting and Chris and I discussed several things. He thinks the body acts weirdly when you give it rest so the “Taper Interrupted” strategy can still lead to an effective race result.

A couple of other things happened in the race that struck me as interesting. I passed the *ultimate* winner of my AG at mile 37 or so on the bike. I went by like a freight train, a very clean pass… but she jumped on my wheel and followed me back to T2. Basically, I paced her back. She was not drafting. She then proceeded to run very solidly so she deserved the win. Kudos for her running skills.

The other pacing thing came up with a team-mate. Laura Lyster (F20-24) went off several waves ahead of me. I caught her at mile 28 or so and she told me afterwards that my going by was a *wake-up call* and after I passed she tried to hold my wheel for as long as she could. It helped her to a sub 3 hour bike split.