Its TAPER time baby!

My taper for this race started last week. I thought it would feel good to do less exercise, but I'm tired ALL the time, and sluggish. I feel like I don't want to do anything. Why run for 30min? Why ride my bike for ONE hour? What happened to SIX hours? Apparently this is how you are "supposed" to feel, so its all ok. I'm not sure about that. I feel like the race is over, not like its coming up. I'm not amped up about it at all. Now instead of training I just want it to be over. Here is what I did last week:

Monday - off
Tuesday - swim 1:00
Wednesday - bike 1:30 (2x15min tempo) -- that was fun!
Thursday - off
Friday - swim :30, bike 3:00
Saturday - off
Sunday - run/walk 12miles

4 workouts!! Thats it! A grand total of 8 hours of exercise, the week before was 18! I'm SO bored!! And its just making me nervous and frustrated and anxious AND tired! Argh!! This week is going to be less than that.

Here is what Six-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion Mark Allen has to say about tapering:

The final touches to any training program come during the taper. This is the period of your season leading up to a key race when you cut back your overall training volume and allow your body to absorb all of the hard work you did during your base building and speed phases. Doing the right kind of taper is an art unto itself.

A taper is tricky because of what is happening internally when your body is given a chance to recover. When athletes start to give themselves rest, the system in the body that responds to stress (which is the system that allows you to get up for big workouts) starts to shut down. This is like working on the engine of your car. You cannot give the engine an overhaul while it is running. You have to shut it off.

The same is true for our bodies. You have to shut the "engine" off for it to recover and charge up for the big races. And when you do this, you might feel like you are out of energy, sluggish, and getting out of shape. THIS IS NORMAL.

This requires a readjustment of mindset. Allow yourself to feel less-than-stellar. It is just a signal that your body is repairing itself and getting ready for a big effort in a few weeks. Resist the temptation to go out and test your fitness just to make sure you are not losing it. As best as you can, stick to the plan I will outline for you. This is the toughest part of a taper...the rest.