Tapering, though sometimes difficult, is essential for optimal performance

Yes, it's taper time again. The most beloved, hated week of training. One fellow blogger calls it the "taper worm." Others simply consider it a necessary evil of the process. 

During the long, hard weeks of training, I yearn for taper week. But once it's here, it's usually not all that I imagined. It's still busy--you're still working out, just less intensely. Then there's the added stress of needing to rest enough, eat enough, relax enough to hopefully be enough on race day. 

There is the anxiety over preparedness, though there is nothing to be done about it by this point. There is the ridiculous fear of losing fitness during taper week. There is agitation as you pace around like a caged tired, ready to bite anyone's head off, as all of the pent-up energy roils and percolates beneath the surface--which is the point. 

There's logistics and planning and hoping your goggles won't get kicked off your head and your tire won't get a flat. 

There's a lot that goes on, inside and out, during taper week. 

What follows is from my interactive fitness column, responding to a reader's question about tapering . . . 

Tapering, though sometimes difficult, is essential for optimal performance

Q: Do you find taper weeks a little difficult . . . emotionally speaking? 

A: Sometimes. It depends on the type of race I’m training for.

Tapering for a sprint race is a sprint in itself, the taper period being so short that I hardly notice it.

On the other hand, endurance races, such as when I was training for the Ironman last year, leave me exhausted and counting the days until taper time.  

So, it’s tapering for the middle distance races—half marathons, and Olympic and half Ironman triathlons—that tend to leave me feeling a bit out of sorts.

Tapering, a key factor in preventing training-induced fatigue from affecting your race-day performance, is the reduction in the amount and intensity of exercise in the days and weeks leading up to a race. Generally, longer endurance events require longer taper periods of up to four weeks, while shorter races may only require a week or less.

For most athletes, a well-executed tapering plan is essential for optimal race day performance. The key is finding the proper balance between rest and continued training. According to flammerouge.je, “the best training and form in the world can all be wasted with an ineffective taper period.” 

Studies suggest that tapering, which allows you to fully recover from previous workouts and be completely rested for your race, can increase and athlete’s strength, power, motivation, autoimmune function, oxygen uptake and glycogen levels. A proper taper should leave you feeling strong and rested, taking pride in all you’ve accomplished during the grueling weeks of training, and excited that you are within days of reaching your ultimate goal.

But, that’s not to suggest that tapering is always easy. The sudden reduction in workouts can leave some athletes feeling depressed, sluggish, unmotivated and anxious about a perceived loss of fitness. These feelings are quite common as your body slows down to rest and recharge, and should pass as race day approaches. It’s important to remember that there are no workouts you can do at this stage that will enhance your readiness for the race.

                        

Tapering affects each individual differently, so it’s important to listen to your body and figure out what works best for you. 

Flammerouge.je notes that the taper period can be an ideal time to concentrate on technique and strategy, using the extra downtime to sharpen your skills and enhance your body awareness. Nutritional considerations are a factor as well, as the reduction in mileage during tapering means that fewer calories are required. Focus on consuming healthy and nutritious items, particularly carbohydrates, in the days leading up to the race. To keep glycogen levels stocked, eat frequent, small meals, and drink plenty of water. 

In general, you should use the taper period to relax and get lots of rest. Continue stretching and consider getting a massage several days before your race. Read motivational books or magazine articles and reduce stress by practicing relaxation and visualization techniques. Most importantly, don’t try anything new in the week prior to or on race day.

If you’ve executed a well thought-out tapering period, the rest will pay off and, according to markallenonline.com, you will be “so bored with sitting around that you are bursting at the seams to get out there,” which is exactly what you want. 

           

The "Eezy" way to zap a cold

I always worry that I’m going to peak too early in my training. Two weeks ago I had a great 10 mile run. I ran at a decent clip and felt energized afterward. Last weekend, I had one of my best brick workouts, running my fastest pace ever over five miles.

But in the four days since that brick workout, I’ve slipped into a state of fatigue and lethargy, my arches and hips aching. To top it off, I woke up today with a mild headache, a sore throat and a generally feeling of weakness in my arms and legs.

In what is supposed to be my last training push before tapering, I’ve already skipped or altered two workouts: swapping Tuesday’s 40-minute run for a 30-minute aqua jog and, after a weary 2100 yard swim this morning, I skipped my 55-minute afternoon run altogether and took a nap instead. Last week, I also opted for a nap instead of a run.

What gives?

I can only hope that by honoring my body and listening to what it is telling me, I am giving it what it needs to rest, heal and conserve energy, and will be ready to rock come race day.

First thing this morning, I started popping zinc lozenges, a homeopathic remedy my husband and I discovered last year and we both swear by. I upped my fluid intake, ate soup for lunch and, after a nap, kept my scheduled acupuncture appointment—which did little for my cold, per say, but, like magic, zapped the soreness in my hip flexors.

As a bonus, I walked away with a bottle of Chinese Herbs called Monor Bupleurum, which is used to treat many ailments, including colds, by boosting the immune system.

By dinner time, I was already feeling better and managed to serve my family fresh acorn squash, zucchini and tomatoes along with the fish sticks I’d chosen as a last resort, having little energy to prepare anything else.

Now, to top it all off with a good night’s rest and hope for the best in the morning.

So, if you’re looking to quickly zap an oncoming cold, check out one of my tried and true remedies:

 

The debate continues as to whether or not zinc lozenges does anything to help the common cold. A February 2011 Reuters Health article stated that “medical evidence shows zinc may take the edge off the common cold. But not a whole lot.”  How’s that for wishy-washy?

However, the article adds that “researchers found that people who started taking zinc-loaded lozenges or syrups within 24 hours of showing symptoms -- a sore throat, say, or runny nose -- shortened their cold by one day. The bottom line: After seven days of treatment, those taking the supplements had less than half the chance of still being sick.”

According to wiki.answers.com, “recent clinical research has shown that administration of zinc lozenges can cut the time of suffering from a cold in half.”

And who doesn’t want to do that? Sign me up!

The claims that that Zinc works as a lozenge (and not as a supplement) because it must be present at the site of infection—in the throat and nasal passages—reducing the number of infected cells and making it easier for your immune system to clear the cold infection more quickly.  (Note: citric acid can reduce the effectiveness of zinc lozenges.)

Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I start popping the Cold-Eeze and, so far, have had good results. They are homeopathic and come in a wide variety of regular and sugar-free flavors. Though Wild Cherry and Honey Lemon seem to be the most readily available in my local stores, I once lucked into the Chocolate Mint—definitely my favorite.

Despite this research, the Mayo Clinic poo-poos the effectiveness of zinc, including it on its list of cold remedies that don’t work, citing flawed studies, while at the same time, admitting that “in studies with positive results, zinc seemed most effective taken within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.”

So what does the Mayo Clinic recommend? The usual suspects—water and other non-dehydrating fluids, gargling salt water, saline nasal drops and chicken soup.

Be well!

Where the magic happens

With an enthusiastic sweep of the black Sharpie in my mind, I checked off my 10th workout in six days--an 8.5-mile run that felt . . . amazing!

Long runs, for me, are a thing of dread. Especially running them alone. I know that to all the marathoners out there, 60 minutes is nothing--a blink of an eye, a blip in time, a mere warm up. For me, anything over an hour is l-o-n-g.

Today I was scheduled to run 80 l-o-n-g minutes. As the dread set in the day before, I even toyed with the idea of showing up to a 10K trail run instead, before thinking better of running on trails for the first time since spring just four weeks shy of a race. (duh.)

So, I slept in, ate breakfast, caffeinated, and prepped my fuel belt (always in use for anything beyond 60 minutes, especially in warm/humid weather), loading it up with two 8-oz bottle of water and two 8-oz bottles of coconut water, each to be consumed over 20 minutes, and a Hammer Gel for the mid-point. I believe the combination of all the above helped me to find a little magic today.

  

It was humid--76%--and cloudy, with temps in the low 80s. The first half of the run was a net uphill; I didn't push too hard. Around the 3-mile mark, a general weariness began to set in--no big surprise given that my weekly foundation runs tend to be 36-50 minutes. However, the fatigue quickly dissipated as I pushed through mile 4, sucked down the gel and began to enjoy the net downhill for the second half of the run.

Being ahead of schedule mile-wise, I added an extra loop which, to my surprise, had a huge hill--the type of descent that makes the quads weak as the legs windmill frantically to keep up with the pull of gravity. Of course, after bottoming out, I was faced with a wall of asphalt to climb out of the pit. It was a struggle and I was definitely out of my comfort zone but, when I reached the top, something amazing happened--the magic kicked in! The extreme change in terrain actually seemed to recharged my muscles and I experienced a burst of energy.

With two more miles to go, my pace, which had been slow, steady, and pushing a slight negative split, thanks, in part, to the return grade, continued to drop. When I hit 80 minutes, I kept running. 81 minutes and still running. I felt like I could have kept going for several more miles. Finally, almost regretfully, at 82 minutes, I slowed my pace to a walk and began my cool down.

Once home, I guzzled Recoverite while I stretched, still enjoying the novelty of a happy, tingly, energized feeling (aka "runner's high") instead of the beat down, exhausted feeling running sometimes leaves me with.

It certainly wasn't my fastest run, or the farthest, but it was definitely one of the best. And I'll gladly take a little magic whenever and however it happens.

Skipping toward the Skipjack

I blinked, and suddenly found myself in the middle of peak training for my next race.

      

How did that happen? 

As the kids headed back to school this week and we all adjusted to the new schedule, the days, the workouts, the lack of sleep, the stress of all the changes, took their toll.

Logging this week's workouts, I discovered that, by the time I check off tomorrow's 9-mile run, I will have completed 10 workouts in 6 days. No wonder I'm tired! Not to mention behind the eight-ball on calories (read Here). One more tough week to go as we climb the training peak toward the Skipjack, a 75.2 mile race that makes up part of the ChesapeakeMan Endurance Festival

To that end, today's 44-mile ride was our longest yet this season. As we geared up for the ride, my skin already slick with sweat, I gave in to the elements, closing the windows in our house against the oppressive heat and humidity. I'm not a big fan of AC and don't enjoy feeling "refrigerated" in the summer, but it was the right move today, no doubt about it!

Despite the 92 degree temps and the humidity topping 50%, there was a stiff and steady headwind from the west, dragging my average pace down 5 mph from where it was two weeks ago on the same stretch of road (on a day that was, in contrast, cloudy, cool and calm).

After 16 miles of direct headwind, we turned north and enjoyed some great rolling hills, with descent speeds hitting 40 mph. We juggled phone calls from our kids trying to schedule play dates, rationed our water (realizing that we were probably a full bottle short for a ride of today's duration and conditions) and spied Santa Claus along the way--a jolly bald man with a big belly and a fluffy white mustache and beard that spanned his collarbone and hung in a cloud down to his chest.

At 30 miles in, the climbing began in earnest, pushing up and over four ridges before finally peaking at the point from which we would enjoy a net downhill for the remainder of the ride.

Though I'd miscalculated fluids, thankfully one bottle was more substantial than water--a nutritional solution containing sodium, calories and sugar--the things my body craved to keep me moving forward. When I sampled the solution at home, I'd recoiled from the saltiness of it. By the time I was tapping into that bottle en route, I barely noticed the salt, my body so desperately craving it.

And so we pedal on, into the next week and our final peak stretch before we crest the training hill and begin our descent to the Skipjack that awaits . . .

Powered by imagination

Today's 20-mile ride was, as always, and adventure.

       

To start, for a mere split second or two, this girl found a few fast twitch fibers and snagged some Major Air jumping over the train tracks at the bottom of a 40mph descent! High enough that my heart skipped a beat when the tires did a little fishtailin' in mid-air, but it sure was fun! :)

(Disclaimer: I'm sure anyone watching would say I was a mere inch off the ground but, to me, it felt huge!)

My pace, however, was not as stellar as it should have been. Apparently, my mind was preoccupied with writing stories in my head, lost to my imagination and the fictional world I'm creating in my writing projects at home, instead of focusing on my workout. Probably not the safest way to travel, but is sure does make the miles fly by.

Overall, a great ride; excessively abundant, ripe and offensive eau de fertilizer, and surprising bit of loose gravel and bumpity bump on one of my main drags, not withstanding.

Be safe, train smart, stay fit & have fun!

      

Calorie Counting

After my 2500 swim left me nauseous, cold and depleted, I began to suspect that I'd fallen short on calories today--not on purpose, but I paid the price tonight and my workout suffered a bit too.

Out of curiosity, I went back and added up approximately how many calories I consumed today--every last morsel I put into my mouth--versus how many calories I burned. Here's the result:

Pre-ride: 
Slice of whole grain toast with almond butter (210)



Post-ride:
Protein shake (140)
Nuts (150)
Oatmeal (500)



Mid-day snack:
Medium Peach (60)
Cup of Chai (100)



Lunch:
Medium Salad with 1 T olive oil (300)
Dried Fruit (100)
Dark chocolate covered almonds (220)



Post-swim/Pre dinner: 
Nuts (150)



Added together, that's about 1930 calories. Not bad at all if all I did today was exist: the recommended number of calories for a woman of my age and weight is about 2000 daily.

However, I did more than just breathe and walk from point A to B: I went for a 25 mile bike ride (calories burned: about 1460) and a 2500 meter swim (calories burned: about 1000) for a total of 2460 extra calories burned. 

If I were to replace the calories burned, so that my input would be equal to my output, then I probably should have consumed 4460 calories today--so I'm about 2530 calories short! No wonder I felt like el crap-o after my swim.

Now, I'm busily (and happily) trying to make up for lost calories with a serving of a pasta casserole for dinner, and a side of tortilla chips with melted cheese (one of my favorite indulgences). Next up: ice cream for dessert (of course).

I'm feeling better already! :)

North East Triathlon

North East, MD

North East Community Park

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Race report--finally! Sorry for the delay, but I had a little skateboarding punk to deal with first! So, here goes . . .

Race Morning:

3:40 AM: (No, that is not a typo): Alarm is going off and, well, race day eve is never known for being very restful. This is probably the earliest I've ever gotten up for a race!

4:20 AM: We were out the door and heading north on I-95 toward the town of North East, MD, which is approximately 90 minutes from my house (with no traffic, of course. Of which there was really none on a Sunday morning before dawn.) Thankfully, there were no construction delays either, so we cruised along, sipping joe and jammin' to tunes, desperately trying to Wake. Up!!

5:50 AM: Arrived at the race venue. Well, near the race venue, is more accurate. Parking was a pretty healthy walk from the North East Community Park. Lugging bikes and gear bags to the transition area was a great way to get the heart pumping and the joe circulating.

6:00 AM: Completed packet pick up, chip pick up and body marking in record time--one of the benefits of a smaller race: 163 competitors in the Olympic distance and 200 in the sprint distance. With plenty of time to spare, setting up transition was peaceful and relaxing. There was even enough time to chat with fellow athletes, take a few pics, and visit the pots (they had port-o's and real ones!).

Sometimes it is fun to listen to other athletes' pre-race chatter, especially those who have done the race before, know the course and can possibly provide tips/insight. Other times, it's best to avoid those who are a nervous wreck or generally spewing negative energy. Of course, there will always be one who racks their bike wrong and messes up the whole bike racking feng shui, and the chatterbox who has had waaaay too much coffee! 

My chit-chatty neighbor wondered aloud why women always swim in the last wave and then answered her own question with "it's so the guys don't come up on their bikes and run us down." Speak for yourself, lady! Those guys have to catch me first :) Some women are nervous about racing with the guys; I'm not one of them. In fact, I quite enjoy passing (and beating) many of them! :) Chatty Cathy also had lengthy stories of saddle woes and her quest to find a "comfortable" seat. Why bust her bubble by letting her know there is no such thing? 

7:00 AM: We were booted from the transition area and had 20 minutes before the national anthem, so my husband and I used the time to walk the venue and scout the swim course and exit area. I found a grassy spot to throw in a few sun sals, squats, lunges and push ups for good measure. The sprint racers went first so we were pretty much chillin' 'til our approximate 8:00 and 8:10 start times. 

The Swim

The water was warm. Really warm--I'm talking 80s--so wetsuits were prohibited. The water, while calm and at slack tide, was murky, as it always is in the Chesapeake Bay. I have mastered my open water swim game and no longer suffer from panic attacks and so, with confidence, started near the front of the pack, ready to focus on my own swim and not on the swimmers around me. As it usually shakes out, I end up somewhere near the front 1/3 of the group and typically pass some other colored caps along the way. The swim was pleasant & uneventful. I placed 64th out of 163 in the 1500 meter swim. Pretty typical for me. 

T1

Pretty long run from swim exit to T1, which counts as part of the swim time, but otherwise uneventful. I managed to find my bike on the first try and went out the correct exit too! Victory!!

The Bike

If there is a moment for me to shine, this is usually it. The bike leg is always my favorite, and my one and only opportunity to pass lots of people--men who started in the waves before me and women who swam faster than me. I loved this bike course--rolling hills, mix of shade and sun, beautiful scenery, nice road conditions--and I gunned it for as long as I could, riding near 21 mph for most of the course, until my legs hit a point of total fatigue during the last 5 miles, the hills taking their toll, and I dropped to approximately 18.6. That's okay though; coming into this race, I was more unprepared and under-trained than usual. I finished 63rd out of 163 on the bike. 

T2

Having only to drop my helmet and switch my shoes, I managed in and out of this one pretty quickly--32nd out of 163 competitors. Nice! 

The Run

Oh, the dreaded run. This is where I lose my sparkle. Any shine or verve I had on the bike disappears and I am about as shiny as a rusty, old penny. To my credit, I ran the first 1.5-miles pretty fast on my tired legs and looked longingly at the turnaround point for the 5K-ers, while staring ahead in dismay at the first of two big (and unexpected) hills. I did not like the run. (Big surprise). It was hillier than anticipated, in full sun, and on the shoulder of a busy road--no vista to speak. Mile 1.5 to mile 4 was a trudge and my average pace slipped 20 seconds per mile. Somehow, I found a tiny second wind for the final 2-mile stretched and recouped about 5 of those seconds to finish (sort of) strong. Not surprisingly, I came in 81st out of 163 in the run. The run has always been, and still is, my Achilles heel. The top 5 women all averaged between 7 - 8.5 min miles. 8-8.5 is something I can do for 5K distances, but not more. (One of the top 5 women, I might add, was 58 years old and she finished 10 minutes ahead of me. She rocks!! I hope I can be like her when I grow up!) 

Results

Though my overall performance, with all the youngsters and the men thrown in, was pretty average, my standings against the women fared better:

Division Place: 1st of 7 (and with the next closest competitor 7 minutes behind!) 
Overall Women: 14th of 60. 

So, in all, a pretty fine day, especially for a race I went into feeling unprepared. That said, I'd put no pressure on myself and really just enjoyed the experience. I would do this race again. 

Post-Race

The food was pretty good; much of the usual--bagels (but only with cream cheese; I prefer PB), orange slices, bananas, fruit snacks, Nature Valley Granola bars, chips and an assortment of sandwiches. I felt yucky enough immediately post-race that food didn't appeal to me but, knowing how important it is to refuel quickly, I retrieved the bottle of Recoverite I'd brought from home and choked it down. Eventually, I grabbed a banana and a bag of chips but only managed to eat half of each. Though it was lunch time when we were leaving the venue, and I'd been hoping to check out one of the cute little restaurants, cafes or pubs in North East, my stomach just wasn't ready for it, and neither was my husband's (he finished 3rd in his division and 21st overall) so we pointed the car south and headed for home.

Ninety minute later, we were on the outdoor patio of a favorite local haunt, enjoying lunch and some of the best-tasting beers ever! 

Cheers!