The past couple weeks I've been tapering back my mileage a pretty good amount to get ready for some track races. I've decreased it from about upper 60's to upper 40's per week. I've been feeling pretty tired and a bit sluggish since. Does tapering not work for some people? Has it ever made you feel or perform worse?
i remember hearing back in the day about josh mcdougal dropping from like 140 to 60 or something (pretty drastic) and feeling crappy. but since you were in the 60s you should have only dropped into maybe the mid 50s.
MY theory on tapering (i'm sure ill get crap for this) is to drop your mileage a little but also drop intensity to easier runs and shorter quicker intervals for workouts. also, strides after every run.
instead of focusing on volume, focus on leg speed and turnover. this helps when trying to develop and maintain leg "freshness." At least these ideas always worked for me.
Read indigo mujica.
Angel wrote:
Read indigo mujica.
What?
There's a reason it's called "Taper Madness".
Too much of a cut. The best tapers seem to be expoiential tapers. Cut 10%-20% per week over 1-4 weeks, depending on the event (i.e., multiply the previous week's mileage by 80-90%).
For 60 mpw to start, over 2-4 weeks and 20%/wk this would be:
60mpw
48mpw
38mpw
31mpw
All depends on how fast and how far you want to cut. And cut everything by roughly the same amount. Keep the same number of training days until close to racing, but cut each day's workout by the same amount.
Knowing running, it doesn't have to make sense to happen
the best way wrote:
i remember hearing back in the day about josh mcdougal dropping from like 140 to 60 or something (pretty drastic) and feeling crappy. but since you were in the 60s you should have only dropped into maybe the mid 50s.
MY theory on tapering (i'm sure ill get crap for this) is to drop your mileage a little but also drop intensity to easier runs and shorter quicker intervals for workouts. also, strides after every run.
instead of focusing on volume, focus on leg speed and turnover. this helps when trying to develop and maintain leg "freshness." At least these ideas always worked for me.
The most important thing during tapering is to make sure you don´t lose leg speed velocity.
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The most important thing during tapering is to make sure you don´t lose leg speed velocity.[/quote]
I disagree. Personally, I am willing to sacrifice leg speed velocity, as long as my foot speed does not decrease. However, you need to find what works for you. I had a friend who was a big proponent of knee speed velocity, but then again he was a heel striker.
As long as my nipple speed velocity is improving, I don't worry about the rest.
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