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Tapering off before an event

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  • March 15, 2013 at 3:31 pm #18230
    stepho

    I’m doing the wheelbase spring classic next sunday (my first sportive)

    I have been doing regular 50+ rides over quite hilly roads for a few months now and doing intense 60 – 90 min sessions on the turbo when I’m away at work.

    The question is: how much riding should i do the week leading up to the event.

    Im not planning on doing much though any pearls of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

    :B

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  • March 16, 2013 at 1:20 pm #722493
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    stepho

    Cheers for the advice
    Cheers for the advice chaps.

    Fonts of knowledge every one of you B-)

    March 16, 2013 at 11:45 am #722491
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    KirinChris

    Just to add a little more to
    Just to add a little more to the subject… in terms suited to my simple understanding the purpose of tapering is to make sure that your muscles are fully topped up with glycogen – the energy they use as their first source.

    The reason for tapering is that you’ve been doing so much training the reserves are depleted and you need to build them up and that the event will need to use them. The most intense training period may be the one leading up to the taper so they need to be replenished. Laurent Fignon used to go out a week before an event and take no food so that he ran himself into a hunger knock.

    So I would distinguish between general rest and tapering. Yes, as the advice above says, make sure you have a day or two off before the event so you aren’t fatigued. But feeling your muscles isn’t in itself a bad thing.

    The other thing is that general advice is to reduce volume not intensity. So if you’ve been doing hilly sessions or turbo workouts, cut the duration by about a third but don’t completely stop them.

    I’ve got a three day stage race starting next Saturday. My week would normally be:
    Friday – hard ride or race – 120-140km
    Saturday – medium/hard – 70-80 km
    Sunday – rest
    Monday – Interval sprints – 40km
    Tuesday – hard tempo ride – 50km
    Wednesday – moderate rolling ride – 60km
    Thurday – swim

    But this week I am doing:
    Friday – hard ride (hills)- 120km
    Saturday – medium, steady – 60km
    Sunday – rest
    Monday – Intervals – 30km
    Tuesday – swim
    Wednesday – tempo ride – 40km
    Thursday – off
    Friday – travel / easy ride

    So I’ve cut from 350km to 250km in total and I’m still doing the hrd sessions but have shortened them by about 25%.

    Good luck, and enjoy it most of all.

    March 16, 2013 at 8:45 am #722489
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    gplhl

    I’d rest for one, preferably
    I’d rest for one, preferably two days before an event, depends on whether your legs feel fatigued,

    March 16, 2013 at 7:55 am #722487
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    shropshirelad

    OK so 50 miles = 80 km, and
    OK so 50 miles = 80 km, and that’s the furthest you’ve ever been?

    On that basis 130km is easily within your capabilities.

    As its your first sportive you will want to do well and that means lining up at the start feeling really ready.

    You can work out how much rest that means – but don’t be afraid to you take too much – you won’t drop performance.

    Instead take more rest than you think you’ll need and you’ll turn up for the event ready to really hammer it!

    Have a good one!

    March 16, 2013 at 7:25 am #722485
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    pj

    take a day off. that’s if you
    take a day off. that’s if you ride every day. if you don’t, it shouldn’t be a problem

    March 15, 2013 at 6:35 pm #722483
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    stepho

    @jayme.
    Was looking at some
    @jayme.

    Was looking at some of the pics and it looks stunning.
    Really looking forward to this. 😀

    March 15, 2013 at 6:33 pm #722481
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    stepho

    shropshirelad wrote:
    All

    shropshirelad wrote:

    All depends on your age and how fast you recover. When you do a 50+ (miles or KMs?) what are you like the next day?

    Im 41.50+ miles and i feel exhausted that night but the next day not too bad apart from some tiredeness in the legs.

    Done about 230k in 3 days a couple of weeks ago and my legs did feel very very tired, but not particularly sore.

    March 15, 2013 at 6:21 pm #722479
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    jayme

    I’m doing that ride aswell.
    I’m doing that ride aswell. It should be a cracking ride and the climb up Deepdale into Kingsdale is ace 👿 . My plans are a 200km Audax round the Yorkshire dales this Sunday followed by a 35 mile round commute all week. Then a days rest. Horses for courses though.

    March 15, 2013 at 4:11 pm #722477
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    shropshirelad

    Mmm, I’m over-cautious and
    Mmm, I’m over-cautious and would go the other way – take it easy this weekend and just do a few rides mid-week.

    All depends on your age and how fast you recover. When you do a 50+ (miles or KMs?) what are you like the next day?

    And when you’ve had breaks in training what have you noticed?

    I tend to find after really hard and sustained training it can take 10 days before I’m really ready to do another block of work.

    March 15, 2013 at 4:05 pm #722475
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    stepho

    Cheers Chris.
    Cheers Chris.

    March 15, 2013 at 3:42 pm #722473
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    KirinChris

    For 130km I wouldn’t worry
    For 130km I wouldn’t worry too much about tapering.

    It’s maybe appropriate if you’ve been doing a LOT of intense training, and more so for multi-discipline events like triathlon.

    But I wouldn’t think your training falls into that category.

    You’ve been training regularly so just do most of what you would do – maybe 80%, just to make sure you aren’t tired.

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