Taper Time

My A+++ race is Ironman AZ, so I'm trying a high wire act to get thru the next two weeks balancing (a) losing too much fitness thru taper and recovery with (b) competing on Oct 11. Starting now, I'm going to day-by-day it over the next four days, then do no more than 5 hours of s/b/r on Mon-Fri next week, with 13 hours (or less, hopefully) on Saturday. Then, Sun-Thurs as total recovery, and back at it the following weekend.

This is what the start of my Kona "taper" has looked like over the past six days:

Thurs - 2 x 1 mile, 10K total morning of my travel day; Fri - Swim 3350 m/1:10 & Trainer FTP intervals/55'; Sat - 35' weight session, then 16 mi run/2:13; Sun - Swim 4000 yd/1:18, Trainer FTP + (1.05 IF) intervals 1:07; Mon - weight session 35 min, run home from gym 4 mi; Tues - Run 2 x 1 mi, 7 mi/59', Trainer VO2 Intervals 10' work time; Wed (today) 3750 meters/1:20 swim, weight session, maybe some trainer intervals in PM. So close to 13 hours, but run (33 mi) and swim (11,000 meters) heavy with only hard interval cycling. I'd done a 2 week cycling volume pop ending with 105 mi on Tuesday of last week.

The next few days (Thurs-Sun) I'm planning 2 Kailua Bay swims of 2500 and 3800 meters on Fri & Sat, a 1.5 hour bike Friday along the early part of the course a 3-4 hour bike on Sat or Sun, the P.A.T.H 10K for acclimation on Sunday, and probably another Ali'i Dr run somewhere in there. Then hit the taper hard until race day, and recover like a sloth for another five days. This will put an 11 day hole in my IM AZ training, punctuated by a 140.6 Big Day. I hope it works, for both races.