You know that feeling on Christmas morning? Well, I'm Jewish so I don't, but I can relate. Whatever the special day is, you know it when you feel it. Suddenly you can't stop smiling, you have some swagger in your step, you're relaxed, you're giddy, etc. For swimmers, this range of emotions can be summed up in one word: Taper.
I got the idea for this post from an article Splash magazine printed in this month's issue about taper. The article features Garrett Weber-Gale, an Olympic sprint freestyler and member of the beastly 4x100 Free Relay from '08, sharing his nutrition tips for taper. These range from protein consumption to hydration to how much is too much when it comes to junk food.
Nutrition is just as important to a successful taper as the training, but is there more? For swimmers, taper represents the climax of their season. The taper meet is what they've been waking up at the crack of dawn for, what they've been meticulously tweaking their technique for, what they've been lifting their faces off for, what they'll be shaving every inch of their bodies for. Taper is a big deal. If the taper process affects your training and nutrition, why shouldn't it affect the rest of your life?
Here are my tips for small everyday changes to make sure you're not over exerting yourself during taper:
1.) Walk, don't run. Take your time getting to places. If you're normally late to class and have to dash to make it in time, leave a little bit earlier. If you can, try to find a parking space as close to where you're going as possible so that you're not walking across a giant parking lot. (Green tip: get a ride with one or more of your swim buddies who are also tapering.)
2.) Elevators. Around the second week of taper, I'll really kick my rest into high gear. The first thing to go are stairs. You don't think of climbing a flight of stairs as strenuous because you do it so often, but it puts a lot of stress on your leg muscles. Think of how much your legs kill after running a set of stadium stairs. If you can't find an elevator, then take your time walking up the steps. One of our guys lived on the third floor of his dorm last year and would take almost 30 minutes after practice to walk up his stairs. He was a little extreme, but you get the idea.
3.) Sleep. It sounds basic, but it's worth repeating. Sleep is important to an athlete at all phases of their season, and even more so during taper. Sleeping allows your body to recover and heal from being broken down in practice, and recovery is how you get stronger. Since taper is when your yardage will be at its lowest, your body will be able to recover from all those sets of anaerobic 200s you did at the start of the season. Shoot for at least 8 hours a night.
4.) Stay on top of things. Getting 8 hours of sleep a night means you need to be in a position to go to bed on time. If you have to be up at 8 to get to class, don't stay up until 2 doing work or studying. Get your work done as early as you can. I've asked professors for extensions on papers or for later test dates during taper, and most of the time they've been very accommodating as long as I explained the importance of taper to them. (Tip: If you're asking your professor for an extension on a paper, try to give him some advance notice. It won't look good if you ask if you can hand the assignment in a week later the night before it's due.)
5.) Relax. It's taper, and it only comes around once or twice a year. Enjoy it while it lasts and relax. This not only means relaxing about swimming, but also with your activities. Wherever you are, relax. Our team goes dry starting a month out from our big meet. Obviously, that means no drinking or smoking or whatever you do. That doesn't mean you can't hang out with friends or go to parties, but if you are at a party try to spend as little energy dancing as you can, or avoid it in general. Drink lot's of water when you're out, and avoid soda or coffee.
Assuming you've done the work going into taper, these five tips and good nutrition will help you get the most out of the end of your season. Take care of this, and your coach will take care of the training.
Until next time, keep swimming.
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