Triathlon: Tapering

By kate on September 8th, 1999

Current totals:		Other:
Running	40.7 mi / 65.51 K	Hiking	8 mi / 12.87 K
Biking	156.5 mi / 251.86 K	Canoeing	40 minutes
Swimming	7.4 mi / 11.84 K	Soccer	10 games

A Week from the Triathlon

I feel fairly ready for the triathlon at this point. I ran and swam a total of 11.8 and 2.8 miles, respectively, on my trip, and by the end could do the entire distance (both sports) without stopping to rest. My swimming, in particular, improved a lot.

My brother told me about something athletes do called “tapering.” Apparently, several days before a big event, they start tapering their training down and usually do nothing one or two days before. I was planning to do this anyway, but it was nice to hear it is a legitimate strategy.

Upon returning from my trip, though, I caught a bad cold that has my throat sore and my whole head feeling foggy. I don’t feel up to working out. But this is one of my last few available days to exercise before I have to taper.

All in all, I feel like I’m ready for the race, so I’ll workout as much as I can the next day or two, then take it easy.