The Ironman Taper
Most ideal long distance tapers start about 10 days out. Any longer and you risk really sinking into full-on recovery mode. If you have been hitting your plan on all cylinders and logging solid weeks on a consistent basis, waiting until 10 days out is fine as your body will have plenty of time to recover. That said, if you have been treating the whole thing pretty haphazardly, it really doesn’t matter what you do: too late to gain fitness, too close to the race to do much. You would be better served preparing yourself mentally for the race than to try and cram in one last workout. Here are some short notes to help you make the most of your last few days.
Day Ten: Key Workout is a long run of 90 mins. First 60 mins at easy long run pace, last 30 mins as moderately hard (i.e., best possible race day run splits; no 5k-paced effort!!!). Second workout would be a recovery swim of 3k.
Day Nine: Key Workout is a longer swim of 4k. Think 5×400 with 30 seconds of rest in between. Start each 400 easy and then do last 200 (of the 400) at slightly faster than race day effort. Optional aerobic bike ride of 90-120 mins.
Day Eight: Open Water swim of 30 mins (optional / if possible), done at goal pace. Then a brick workout of 3 hours as 60 mins easy / small chain ring, then 1 x 40 mins at goal race day effort watts, 1 x 40 mins as 5 x 8 mins (4 mins in big gear @ 80 rpms at race pace/watts; then 4′ recover spin), and then 1 x 40 mins at race day effort watts…right into a short transition run of about 30 mins. Do a 15 min out and back; out easy, back at steady pace. Recover well.
Day Seven: Day Off. Use this day to make sure you have all your gear + nutrition together, have all the maps you need, contact info, USAT license, etc.
Day Six: Quality Swim Session (AM) of about 4k with 2k pretty solid as 10 x 200 on 20-second rest interval. Alternate 200s as odds steady/race pace, evens moderately hard. Aerobic Ride (PM) of 90-120 mins. Include 10-12 x 90 seconds of big chain ring (front) work at about 80 rpms at goal race day effort/watts; there should be about 3 mins recovery between each effort.
Day Five: Aerobic Brick of about 90 mins as 75 mins bike / 15 mins run. Keep bike easy and feel free to run quickly if you feel good.
Day Four: Course Swim (AM) of about 45 mins. Ideally one-loop of the course to check out all situations. Stop frequently to check bearings. Should be done early to simulate race conditions. Course Run (PM) of about 45 mins, should be 25 mins out easy, then 20 mins back at slightly faster than goal race day pace (be honest). Should be done in mid-afternoon to simulate race day conditions. Stretch after.
Day Three: Course Swim (AM) of about 20 mins. Afternoon brick of about 80 mins (60 bike, 20 run). All aerobic, maybe some effort at goal race day pace, but keep it minimal.
Day Two: Day Off. Stay at home, clean your bike, do stretching, maybe spend some quality time with your family, spouse, supporters, etc.
Day One: 20 min swim, 20 min bike, 20 min run. Done in the AM, pretty close together. Nothing hard, just include 2-3 x 30″ at race pace with short recoveries to stay sharp. Most important thing to do is make sure all your gear is race ready.
Race Day (Day Zero): Time to get out there, get out of your own way, and have a great day!
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