IN SEARCH OF THE "IDEAL" TAPER FOR ST. GEORGE 70.3
Currently in HIM week 18 (en-route to St. George 70.3), as I project my TSB through race day, following EN prescribed HIM Advanced plan, I see my CTL dropping excessively. That said, I want to beef up week 19 workouts through Tuesday of race week (nothing fancy .. just maintain week 19 and half of 20 short and intense), only swim Wednesday (on venue) and totally shut down Thursday – Friday to race Saturday. With the above plan I would PEAK with a CTL of 124 (TSB -10.5) on wednesday of week 19 and arrive on race day with a CTL of 111 (TSB 24.5)
E.N. WISDOM WELCOME!!! FIRE AWAY PLEASE!!!
0
Comments
- during the 5-7 days before an HIM, go for short, harder interval type workouts, but maybe half as much work time as usual. Avoid volume, anything over 40-50 minutes.
- The quality and amount of work 3-8 weeks out from the race is much more predictive of outcome than what happens in the taper.
What you have planned in weeks 19/20 sounds just fine to me. Don't forget to spend some time visualizing the race on those rest days, then execute like you have before, and you'll have another great result.
It sounds like it's coming together right on time.
I'm not sure there is much improvement to be had with any key workouts after a several month build. I AM sure 2 weeks is plenty of time to get greedy/paranoid and blow several weeks of build. Point being....keep it safe with the No.1 goal of getting back to the house healthy. IMO, don't try to cram a 45' wko into a time slot that life cut short to 30'. Generalized logic that we tend to lose when tapering.
Also, I, personally, struggle with all of the logistics that start rolling into the last 2-3 weeks. My taper mood is in full swing, combined with my excitement for a great race, and then there's all this stuff that has to get done while family and work usually can't/won't break stride at all.
Do what you can to eliminate all that noise in the head. Continue good eating habits, high nutrients. Don't slack on this now that you've reached peak form/weight. Get as much sleep as you can without being a horse's a$$. Sometimes a workout in taper weeks looks like a Must Do. Maybe you, or someone else reading, will want to do it super early or super late just to say you got it done. But, if it feels like there's just too much to do that day, keep the focus on these other two factors. Keep them front and center.
Juan,
Hundreds/thousands of EN athletes have used the HIM plan as is to achieve a great result on race day, by following the workouts in the last 2wks (the peak/taper). I don't think any modifications are required by your plan isn't a bad one either.