62 Days – Taper Week Begins….Swimming

I have my first official outdoor triathlon this weekend. It is an Olympic distance so a 1500 meter swim, 24.8 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run. This week begins my first official taper week of my training. I did a mild taper for my marathon last year, but this is different. It is different because I have grown comfortable in the training volume of every day, 7 days a week with a day or two of rest each month.

This morning my plan called for a 1100 yard swim. This seemed so simple. I had to remind myself that these thing are done for a reason and this week it is more about keeping that feeling/sense of the water than making myself faster.

Here is what I did

2 x 25 free
50 yard easy
2 x 50 at 200 target pace
50 yard easy
2 x 100 at 500 yard target pace
100 yard easy
400 endurance swim
50 kick
100 with pull

I tried to incorporate some sighting practice on each 25. I can’t say that I am getting better at this, but it is starting to feel more comfortable. My big key is to not stop swimming and losing momentum.

I did some real light stretching after the swim since I had time. My legs were tired this morning. My quads are pretty sore from the race yesterday.

I have one more swim this week of 800 yards. It is hard to not swim more. I feel like I should be doing more. I know this is what everyone goes through but it was a battle this morning to not add another 1000 yards to the workout this morning.

I keep telling myself to enjoy this light load because after this weekend my training volume picks up to a whole new level as I prep for my 70.3 Ironman Racine. Next week I will be begging to go back to this week!

Happy Monday! I look forward to getting my body rested and ready for this weekend. On to creating a checklist of what I think I need for race day.