For the first time in a buildup I hit a 80 mile peak and am a week into my taper and admittedly feel slow and crappy. My race is next Sunday and I’m concerned that I toasted my legs in the buildup, is this a normal feeling a week and a half out when tapering off a high base? I’m trying to add in strides to keep my legs sharp, at this point everything feels stale though.
Bump
What distance is the race? I’d say the strides are a good call as wel. Personally, I’ve always found that a down week has been more helpful than a full taper. So after that 80 mile week I’d do a 60 ish mile week and then back up to 75-80 for the week of the race. It’s always been more about recovery for me than the actual “taper.” That being said, some people respond really well. You didn’t really specify how you feel, just that you’re worried you’ll feel bad. The human body does some crazy sh!t so I’d expect you’re body will adapt and recover before your race.
My ideal taper is after my last couple weeks of high mileage, say 95-100 mpw, the next week is around 85, then a week of 75-80, then it's race week of potentially only 60. This is more for a big race that is not your end of year peak race... You wouldn't be doing your peak mileage just three weeks before your peak race.
A shortened taper (time-wise) could be doing the weeks of 95-100, then a week of 80 heavily front-loaded, then the race week of 60.
The last few days before you want to feel good just make sure you go slow in your easy runs, and mileage should be about half normal and you'll feel fresh. So if 80-100 mpw is normal, that's 12-15 miles per day average... So the last few days before you want to feel fresh could be a 6-8 mile run, and then a 3-4 mile run... If your peak mileage is 50 miles, then the last few days could look like a 4 mile run and a 2 mile run
I don't think you should be overly concerned it is probably still lingering fatigue from your peak weak training. Sounds like this in an important race and you are getting a little stressed which could be hurting your recovery a little. Have a look at your recovery maybe you need some extra sleep and a really good foam rolling session/massage stretch etc.
Also look at nutrition, hydration, electrolytes etc.
This could just be a sign that your taper was necessary.
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