Fred D and Jason's (Tri808) Half Ironman Mentor Group CLOSED! (Page 47)

I never feel worse, excepting a "real" illness, than during a real taper week (as opposed to a rest week, which isn't as bad).  

Niggles and wonks with everything - sore feet, creaky knees, shoulders out of whack, back twinges… You name it, and it happens during taper week for me.  Then, usually, my legs feel the most dead ever on Saturday - I mean like there is no way I can race the next day.

Magically, though, on Sunday I'm ready.

Tapers work, especially if you follow your plan and don't sneak in any extra work, but I don't like them.  Not one bit!

As for what to do, rest even more.  Take plenty of fluids.  Eat especially healthy foods (resist the junk).  Don't stand if you can lean.  Don't lean if you can sit.  Don't sit if you can lie down.  That and hope the cold goes away ASAP.  Others might suggest supplements and such, but I don't like using anything right before a race that I haven't tried previously (and I'm not a huge believer in zinc and the like - although others swear it works.  The only placebos I go in for are compressions socks and foam rolling  .

Good luck!

Matt

All of this is funny because I thought I was the only one who felt like crap during taper time.  Ironically I am starting to taper for my HIM this week with a reduction in hours and I suspect I'll be feeling sick soon.  I usually get some tightness in my back, my knees start hurting and each step feels like my achilles is going to snap.  And the day before the race, I am tired, irritable, and usually get an all-day headache.  Nice, isn't it?  Can't wait!

Day 1 of taper for me and my left IT band is acting up. It's playing with my head a little bit! I know it will go away, but at the same time it has me slightly worried.

Pretty uneventful week - taking in the bike today for a pre-race tuneup. Definitely getting in some OWS this week in Chicago, as that has been lacking for me.

Oh yeah, I checked out the lake temps up in Racine. It's currently 50F. Sheesh. Lake Michigan turns over so fast, though, so tomorrow it could be 60F.

Seems like a lot of us are in taper mode right now....

I'm currently trying to remember how to eat like a normal person, rather than a starving athlete! 

Did a short, fast (for me) ride on Saturday before dropping the bikes off to be transported to the race.  Had a good swim this morning and one more on Wednesday.  Then traveling / taking it easy Thursday, and a bit of stuff Friday/Saturday to wake up the legs and arms.  Can't believe the race is already here!

I'm somewhere among build, peak and taper - too confusing!  I went long and hard last week after my (first ever) Oly (biggest week of the year and definitely more HIM specific workouts than short course).  This week I'm scaling back just a touch on volume and pushing the speeds/intensity back to Oly levels.  I have a sprint this Saturday to hone the edge for my last Oly of the season on the 21st. 

So, a taper with intensity (or a peak with volume) week this week and train through the sprint, then a true Oly taper next week.  I'm already dreading cutting back on my food, too, as I LIKE eating like a starving tri-guy. 

Then a 2 week build, one week HIM peak and one week taper to my first ever HIM. 

Some of the fun for me is trying to figure out training for the best compromise of performance at the Oly and HIM.  A bit of trial and error, and I'm just hoping I don't TOTALLY $crew the pooch in training for the HIM!    If I do, I guarantee I'll learn from it though. 

OK - good luck on all the upcoming races.  I can't wait until I'm swamped in RR's!

Matt

IMHO, the training is not that different.  The guys who are doing well in HIMs are also doing well in Olys.  The main difference between the two is simply proper pacing and nutrition.  Naturally a HIM will require a little more volume, but it's not to say that you have to train shorter and harder to do well in an Oly.

This cold has really settled in to both head and chest - great timing, no?  Well, maybe so.  At least I'm not in peak training weeks where I'd feel like I was really missing out.  The reduced hours during taper week at least give me the chance to complete the workouts and feel accomplished.  My revised training schedule for this week called for a 2000 swim, mostly 100's with some fast 50's thrown in.  I really did not feel up to the swim but dragged my sorry butt to the pool figuring if I only got in 400 I'd at least keep things loose.  Ended up having one of the best swims of the whole training period in terms of both time (1:41/100) and efficiency as measured by my 910.  Go figure.  I did limit it to 15x100 as I am trying to get over this plague and figured the hay is in the barn, so really just wanted to stay tuned up anyway. 

It was a real confidence builder though.  My wife asked me before I went to the pool, "What are you going to do on race day if you still feel this way?"  I responded with "Deal with it then", but after today's swim I now know that I'll be good to go.  I've still got 4 days to get on the other side of it!

Are colds common in taper weeks? I have one too. Not quite as bad as yours, Tom, but some sort of nasal drippage that is making my throat quite sore and my ears full of fluid. No congestion in the chest or head, though. I also did not want to swim last night, but hoped that maybe cholorine chemicals will clear out whatever has settled into my nose. It seems to have helped some. Did an OWS this morning. A little choppy, but water felt good. Took me about 30 minutes to put on my wetsuit, though. It's so humid here I just got stuck. I forget who, but someone in this group gave me the suggestion to put on wetsuit sleeves inside out. That has really helped with getting my arms in that thing.

I've a theory based largely on my imagination... and years of experience with high stress situations followed by a lull.

In high stress settings (think a month on trauma surgery, a sleepless 4 weeks consulting engagement, a series of build months getting ready for a HIM, etc.), the body's stress response tends to limit or damp down the immune system.  While you'd think that would mean more colds, it also reduces (if I recall correctly from the waaaay back) the body's ability to produce the mediators of fever and aches/pains (interleukins and the like).  So, during these times, you become more likely to GET an infection toward the end of the stress period, but won't notice the effects as much as normal (at least as long as it's not a truly serious infection - I'm talking colds and the like).

Then, once the situation (which is usually self limited, as we take ourselves out of them or they're designed to be short enough not to usually kill us!) is over, you rest.  Your immune system reconstitutes (or ramps back up to normal, more accurately), starts to fight the bug you caught toward the end when you were somewhat immune suppressed, and you start making all the fever/ache/pain/cruddy feeling inducers in full force.

There's your taper week cold (as it's not usually a severe bug we get - all this is at the margin, or we would pull the plug earlier in the stress cycle), post trauma surgery rotation bug, middle of a vacation summer cold, etc.  Caught at the end of the stress cycle and fully felt when you rest.

All probably BS and not in any way based on studies, but fun to speculate!  At least for a true geek... 

Hope you all feel better.  I'm expecting my cold next week. 

Matt

RR up

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=495035 

Great day - ton of fun!

Sorry I can't get this to link...

Matt

Did the Vineman 70.3 today.  Let me set it up for you.  All last week I had a chest cold (one day of false hope) such that on Friday I was considering a DNS.  All during my training for the swim, my plan had been to use a tempo trainer under the swim cap for the race to keep me from going too hard, only to get a rules clarification from USAT that this is considered headphones and thus illegal (even though I had an official tell me OK at Pacific Grove last year).  All during my training I had used HR and had planned out the bike and run with appropriate zones - then I left my HR strap at home hanging in the closet.  Yup, a classic case of "Plan the race, then race the plan". 

So how did it turn out?  I killed it.  In my stretch goal I had hoped to get in just under 6 hours and ended up doing a 5:41:17!  To hit that goal, for the swim I had expected a 40 minute time, ended up at 35:10.  For the bike, was planning on a 3:10, ended up at 2:57.  For the run, planned a 2:00 and ended up 2:00:09.  Surprised my by coming in 26/89 in my AG, so very happy with the results overall.  I'll get a RR up tomorrow probably, but right now, I'm just plain pooped!

Awesome!!

Maybe I should leave my HR strap at home next time.  

Looking forward to the RR, but sounds like you had one heckuva race - CONGRATS!

Matt

PS - I wonder, do you think that being sick made you taper more than you would have otherwise (from a legs standpoint), and do you think that helped - even if by just making some of your workouts a touch easier (even if they didn't FEEL that way)?  I've heard a few people with similar stories and the question has been floating in the back of my mind - brought to the fore by your last week or so...
M 

Nicole, Great Job!  You blew your planned time out of the water!  And you are absolutely correct, we had as perfect weather as is possible for this time of year.  Hey, did you notice anything funny about the run splits that were posted?  My front half was way faster than my Garmin reported for any single mile, and my back half was slower (I'd like to think I could run a 7:11/mile for the first half).  Looks like they may have a math error in their calculations.