This may not be what you think the title refers to but I hope it caught your attention!Currently I have a lot of athletes in the middle of a race week for a variety of events and it got me to thinking about how I / we handle our race weeks and days leading into events. One term or word that I prefer to not to use is, TAPER. For so many athletes the word simply means rest, or just by the use of the word the athletes brain begins to shut the body down, the athlete gets nervous, and they begin to believe that the training simply does not matter any more. When in the fact, it is the farthest thing from the truth ... the sessions all matter, they should have a particular place and each one should have purpose.
So, if I am not using the word "taper", what do I use?
PEAK and / or FRESHEN ... Depending on the race (and it's importance) that is coming up we may just be FRESHENING where some races we are PEAKING and FRESHENING
* FRESHEN: This is typically a 2-6 day period leading into to a race that has a lower priority than a peak race. Regardless of peak or freshen the structure of race week always looks the same for my athletes. This is so they have a very good idea of what is coming, it creates a comfortable familiarity, and they can plan their race weeks accordingly. On that note, pending the distance of the race the actual sessions will vary slightly BUT the structure stays the same and a lot o the sessions it a variety of intensity levels.
* PEAK & FRESHEN: The difference here is that the 1-3 weeks leading into race week will start to lesson training load, training frequency stays almost identical, but particular sessions have a high importance placed on them.
Therefore, as you get close to your races think about rising to your peak performance with specific sessions that make a difference, or if not peaking, freshen up to race at your best on the day!
Have a Great Race,
DL
