To taper or not for end of season?

said_aouita

Well-known member
How much does a team taper at the end of season?
I've seen articles and posts around here saying none. Some people say a very slight taper? Is it one of those "it depends" type of situations?
 
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First, and foremost, kids need to have taper defined for them. Whatever it is you may do, many kids hear the word taper, and they assume it means to run easier at the end of the season to run faster, and that is not the case. I believe in reducing the mileage but keeping the same intensity in every run. But that could vary if you are preparing an individual or a team.
 
How much does a team taper at the end of season?
I've seen articles and posts around here saying none. Some people say a very slight taper? Is it one of those "it depends" type of situations?

A friend is questioning his daughters XC coach and their training methods. Help me and him out with this discussion please.

Obviously it is different for each program and can be based on what the normal routine would be. Most of our kids PR'd at the end of the season (last two meets anyway) and we only reduced the mileage about 10%. What we did is replace a quality training session with a base run of equivalent time. So we normally did two quality session per week plus a meet (so three hard workouts). We replaced our normal Wed/Thur quality day with a steady run or some type of acceleration run of equal time (not distance). With this the kids went 3-4 days between a hard training session and a meet. The one hard workout are thresh-hold repeats plus speed work. I may have dropped one of the mile repeats the last week of training.

The key point is the kids are used to running, suddenly dropping mileage and intensity is not good for their system. Just one person's opinion.
 
Tapering

One of my athletes felt sluggish and slightly off after a taper week and another went on and had a fantastic race the following week at state; I think tapering is very different with different athletes.
 
As others have said, whether and how to taper is largely a question of how you have trained. For most kids, we drop their mileage about 16%. This happens two weeks out from the meet for which we are trying to peak. (Note that this is different for different athletes. This season we had about 55 peaking for the conference or district meet, 7 peaking for the regional meet and one peaking for the state meet.) In those last two weeks we generally don't do max VO2 work except for the races. We will do tempo/threshold training (usually cruise interval 1600s or 1000s) one day with a few shorter, faster intervals (150s - 200s generally, at faster than race pace) after. For the couple weeks before taper we did a Tuesday race pace (VO2) workout and a Wednesday tempo/threshold run. Before that we had a couple weeks of Tue - Thu race pace work. (Mixed in their is a week with no meet for the top kids, in which we have a tempo run on Saturday.) One thing we have noted over the past 3 years is that we have tended to be a little flat after the first week of tapering. Then we have generally had pretty good race results the second week.

How we train is a constantly evolving process. So how we taper now is different than a dozen years ago. And not every kid trains or tapers in the same way.A whizzel said, some kids respond differently. A few years ago we had a kid who had a disappointing state meet after an excellent senior CC season. It was the second time he had been flat at the end of a season. So in track season we didn't stop doing max VO2 work with him. We cut the volume of it a bit, but he basically just kept training through the state meet. And he ended up getting a big PR at the regional race in the 3200 and having a great state meet with a podium spot. This falls under the pay attention to everyone maxim. If what you generally do (because it seems to yield the best results for the most kids) doesn't work for a particular kid, try something else. (To be fair, I have also made changes that didn't yield better results too.)

If you really want to learn about the physiology of tapering, read some books or articles by swimming coaches. Lots of good literature out there.
 
Kids naturally play every day unless someone has given then a gaming system. Can you imagine telling kids they shouldn't play today because they've already played 6 days this week?

I don't think every kid needs a complete day of rest if they're doing the right things the other 6 days. If kids aren't getting enough sleep during the week, a day of not running isn't going to fix the related problems. If they aren't recovering from hard workouts before they get to the next hard workout, a day of rest each week isn't going to fix the related problems.

80% of my guys only run 6 days/week in season, but it's not because they need the day of rest physically. I only schedule 6 days/week for most of them because I know most aren't likely to run on their own on Sunday. Many of them haven't made a committment to their own training and emotionally need a break from doing something that isn't always fun.

The training program ought to designed such that within most 48-72 hours periods the body is roughly remaining in homeostasis, except for physiological improvements. There is a portion of the population that believes you cut back on mileage at the end of the season to recover from the hard workouts and mileage done throughout the season. You can't do that anymore than you can sleep extra this weekend to make up for sleep lost last weekend.

If done right, a runner shouldn't be any more physically fatigued after 8 weeks of training than they were after 2 weeks of training. Stress should be applied incrementally and recovery should be an on-going part of every training plan. Ideally a runner is going to be more fit and just as fresh after 8 weeks as they were after 2 weeks.

There is a on going-suppression of many of the body's systems while training that can leave you in less than optimal condition. The higher the mileage and the intensity of training, the greater the effect. For many lower mileage athletes, there is no need to drop mileage - just reduce the volume of intense running. For most higher mileage runners, drop mileage accordingly and drop the volume of intense running.

Joe Vigil used to have an excellent powerpoint presentation online about tapering for 800-1500m, 5000m, 10000m, and the marathon, but it seems to have disappeared. For higher mileage elite athletes he recommended a 2-3 week taper preparing for the 10k & marathon, but for most high school athletes a one week taper will be sufficient to elicit optimal physical gains.
 
I will agree with what most of the others are saying, and that is that it depends upon the situation.

I know of a D III team from the northwest that runs less than 50 miles per week. Their guys don't taper much, if at all. The workouts become more 5k specific towards the end of the season, the long run is reduced by a couple miles everything else remains the same. Individuals may have more changes than that but as a team it all remains there.

In a situation like you describe, I think a couple extra hours of sleep in the mornings late in the season out-weigh the results of a couple of lifting sessions.

What I would consider cutting out of the routine for a taper would be morning sessions, long runs over 10 miles. Otherwise why change what has been working. Do not change more than needed and allow enough time for the body to adapt to changes that are made.
 
Kids naturally play every day unless someone has given then a gaming system. Can you imagine telling kids they shouldn't play today because they've already played 6 days this week?

I don't think every kid needs a complete day of rest if they're doing the right things the other 6 days. If kids aren't getting enough sleep during the week, a day of not running isn't going to fix the related problems. If they aren't recovering from hard workouts before they get to the next hard workout, a day of rest each week isn't going to fix the related problems.

80% of my guys only run 6 days/week in season, but it's not because they need the day of rest physically. I only schedule 6 days/week for most of them because I know most aren't likely to run on their own on Sunday. Many of them haven't made a committment to their own training and emotionally need a break from doing something that isn't always fun.

The training program ought to designed such that within most 48-72 hours periods the body is roughly remaining in homeostasis, except for physiological improvements. There is a portion of the population that believes you cut back on mileage at the end of the season to recover from the hard workouts and mileage done throughout the season. You can't do that anymore than you can sleep extra this weekend to make up for sleep lost last weekend.

If done right, a runner shouldn't be any more physically fatigued after 8 weeks of training than they were after 2 weeks of training. Stress should be applied incrementally and recovery should be an on-going part of every training plan. Ideally a runner is going to be more fit and just as fresh after 8 weeks as they were after 2 weeks.

There is a on going-suppression of many of the body's systems while training that can leave you in less than optimal condition. The higher the mileage and the intensity of training, the greater the effect. For many lower mileage athletes, there is no need to drop mileage - just reduce the volume of intense running. For most higher mileage runners, drop mileage accordingly and drop the volume of intense running.

Joe Vigil used to have an excellent powerpoint presentation online about tapering for 800-1500m, 5000m, 10000m, and the marathon, but it seems to have disappeared. For higher mileage elite athletes he recommended a 2-3 week taper preparing for the 10k & marathon, but for most high school athletes a one week taper will be sufficient to elicit optimal physical gains.

madman; you know we are almost always in agreement on these things, so I'm splitting a hair here.

What you describe is certainly true for a fully grown professional (ish) who has a good diet and rest cycle. For HS kids and maybe even college kids, absent any direct proof, I believe that a complete day of rest is helpful, maybe as much mentally as anything else. I think kids that are still growing require more rest than adults and hard training puts a stress on them that favors even more of it. I also think comparing kids outside playing and organized hard running are not equivalent activites, although I get your point and generally agree with you on this.

I also think this periodization of training is nonsense, unless they are getting hurt and need time to heal. If they are getting hurt from training, then they are training wrong. This is a coaching issue not a kid issue. We had zero kids hurt from actuall XC practice or races. All the injuries we dealt with were from other activites (like jumping over fences, chasing each other...).

I have never seen a credible paper that says the body needs periodic rest from exercise less than sub-maximal (which very few people do). This is a mental issue, change the type of training. Our XC kids wanted to continue to run after XC finished. A gave them sprinting workouts to do through the end of the year.
 
For HS kids and maybe even college kids, absent any direct proof, I believe that a complete day of rest is helpful, maybe as much mentally as anything else. I think kids that are still growing require more rest than adults and hard training puts a stress on them that favors even more of it. I also think comparing kids outside playing and organized hard running are not equivalent activities, although I get your point and generally agree with you on this.

Agree. While a younger runner is still growing, additional rest days help. Sometimes you'll see runners lose proper form because of running with tired legs. Thinking a runner just waddling through the miles (slow from tired legs) isn't good.
What would you think of a runner taking Sunday off instead of going for a long run if they have sore legs? If early season I may say go run but if the final month of season just take Sunday off.
 
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Agree. While a younger runner is still growing, additional rest days help. Sometimes you'll see runners lose proper form because of running with tired legs. Thinking a runner just waddling through the miles (slow from tired legs) isn't good.
What would you think of a runner taking Sunday off instead of going for a long run if they have sore legs? If early season I may say go run but if the final month of season just take Sunday off.

I always give our kids Sunday off for two reasons: 1) Most of them go to church and it is good to encourage them spending the day with their families and 2) might be the only night/morning they get a full night of rest. Most of the meets are on Saturday and they have to get up early, probably didn't sleep as much as needed and they also (hopefully) ran hard that day. I try to turn Saturday races into hard days with a 20-40min run after the race (depends on each kid) for the cooldown.
 
Running Man - we are on the same page...most kids are better off taking Sunday off. I just don't think it's a physical thing. In fact, I think they would be better off going for an easy run to increase blood flow and improve the recovery process. The day of rest can help them mentally/emotionally, especially for those who haven't fully committed to seeking their potential, and that can make the rest of the week more productive.

Anecdotally, my roommate in college won 3 NCAA Div I titles (5k/10k) and didn't run on many, if not most, Sundays.

Several years ago, I was reading quite a bit on how to maintain fitness when you can't train normally and was surprised to learn that reasearch has shown that quite a bit of fitness can be maintained for several weeks on as little as 20 minutes of running 3x/week. This told me that if you get in beastly aerobic condition in the offseason and then hammer the competition phase, you can maintain near-peak form for several weeks with sub-maximal training efforts during the championship phase.

During this taper phase, I probably tend towards longer stuff than most. I use one day each week for a moderate tempo effort (3 mi instead of 4-5 mi) and one day each week with ~5k worth of intervals at race pace (e.g. 3 cut-down miles +0:10, pace, -0:10) but rest intervals are longer than normal and are of secondary importance to being efficient at pace and the mental benefits. If a kid is struggling with any of these workouts, I'll pull him. I don't want their best race left on the field during the week at this point in the season.


Note: You might consider reading http://completetrackandfield.com/3395/maintaining-fitness/ to read the thoughts of someone must more informed and accomplished than I am.
 
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If a kid is struggling with any of these workouts, I'll pull him. I don't want their best race left on the field during the week at this point in the season.
Late in the season you need to pay attention to each kid's needs. If you notice they are laging in a session, find out why and adjust accordingly.

The taper that everyone talks about for HS kids is probably not really needed in most situations. Kids and coaches read about it for the training olypians need and apply it to their situation, which are really not even close to the same. I had 7th graders this year mention to me that they should have easier training the week of conferences so they could "peak"-parents even asking why they were still running hard, shouldn't they "rest more?".

I really do believe this tapor is a mental thing for HS. I cannot think of a single time when I did a traditional "taper" with kids where it really provided a discontinuity in the improvement curve trajectory. The problem people have is differentiating between single event anomolies (I tapored the team and this one kid ran a 45s PR) and statistically based differences. Good coaches test and track these things. If your team is following a certain training plan and as a team they are improving 10-15s per meet, why would you make a change? This makes no sense to me. Worst case scenario with no change is they still get 10-15s faster. OK, maybe you ease up slightly, but only slightly and this really is a MENTAL difference.

Sorry for rambling about this.
 
rest intervals are longer than normal and are of secondary importance to being efficient at pace and the mental benefits. If a kid is struggling with any of these workouts, I'll pull him. I don't want their best race left on the field during the week at this point in the season.

Great comment.

I hear about kids running monster workouts but sometimes it seems they don't produce the same results come race day. It's a great attribute knowing when to adjust workouts, considering how runners look during practice.

(edit) by chance madman to you also monitor runners resting heart rate?
 
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I also think this periodization of training is nonsense

The only place were periodization can make some sense is during strength training. I think it is commonly agreed that the cardiovascular system and muscles can improve faster than the connective tissue (tendons and ligaments), so cycling through these adjustments makes sense.
 
I do not monitor heart rates. Long ago I had a couple heart rate monitors and used them on selected individuals, but it turned into more of a novelty than a useful tool for me to help guide workouts. In almost every situation, I could get the same information by observing the kids' respiration rates.

I remember one workout about 15 years ago where we were doing 400m repeats in track. I gave a kid a heart rate monitor after he had done 3-4 and said his group would begin whenever his heart rate returned back to 120 bpm. After 15 minutes his heart rate was still elevated but he hadn't been breathing hard after about a minute. The next weekend on a trail run, I had him wear the heart rate monitor and ran with him. We carried on a nice conversation with his heart rate in excess of 210 bpm.

I would love to have the kids record their morning heart rate because I think that really can be a predictor that you are on the edge and likely to get sick, but I still have trouble getting them to simply record their mileage...
 
Agree 100% with madman. The heart rate charts most people are famaliar with are meaningless for atheletes (they were actually published for people to use AFTER cardiac events). I can think of one good uses for runners: Monotoring waking heart rate for overtraining.

There is just to much variability from kid to kid and of the environment. Being slightly dehydrated can change your heart rate significantly for example.
 
Agree 100% with madman. The heart rate charts most people are famaliar with are meaningless for atheletes (they were actually published for people to use AFTER cardiac events). I can think of one good uses for runners: Monotoring waking heart rate for overtraining.
There is just to much variability from kid to kid and of the environment. Being slightly dehydrated can change your heart rate significantly for example.

Very interesting. I've never heard about monitoring waking heart rate for overtraining. Could you expand on this or provide a link where I could learn more about this? Thank you.
 
Very interesting. I've never heard about monitoring waking heart rate for overtraining. Could you expand on this or provide a link where I could learn more about this? Thank you.

The example I can think of why to monitor Resting Heart Rate as soon as you wake up is to let you know if your body still needs more rest.
You normally have a RHR around 30 bpm (just picking a number) and after waking up one morning it's mid 40's.
Your body is telling you it needs more rest or possibly is getting sick from a flu/cold bug.
 
The example I can think of why to monitor Resting Heart Rate as soon as you wake up is to let you know if your body still needs more rest.
You normally have a RHR around 30 bpm (just picking a number) and after waking up one morning it's mid 40's.
Your body is telling you it needs more rest or possibly is getting sick from a flu/cold bug.

Thank you. I never knew that.
 
Thank you. I never knew that.

Panther, I'll try to find the original documents.

I learned about this last year when my son came down with mono at the beginning of CC season. The story goes something like this:

Waking HR is an indication of overall body stress and when it doesn't reach homostasis overnight, then the HR is elevated. This became important when recovering from mono and we used it to regulate whether to workout and at what intensity. I also think it can be used for healthy people as well.

The key is collecting and recording baseline information when healthy and not taking medication. So in my son's case we determined his baseline waking HR was usually 45-48 bpm, we measured it everyday for months (needs to be done as soon as they wake up-we bought a unit that clips on the finger and also measures oxygen level). When his waking HR was more than 55bpm he didn't work out that day and usually the next day it was OK. The amount of rest a kid gets also can affect waking HR, so it isn't only the exercise part.
 
Panther, I'll try to find the original documents.

I learned about this last year when my son came down with mono at the beginning of CC season. The story goes something like this:

Waking HR is an indication of overall body stress and when it doesn't reach homostasis overnight, then the HR is elevated. This became important when recovering from mono and we used it to regulate whether to workout and at what intensity. I also think it can be used for healthy people as well.

The key is collecting and recording baseline information when healthy and not taking medication. So in my son's case we determined his baseline waking HR was usually 45-48 bpm, we measured it everyday for months (needs to be done as soon as they wake up-we bought a unit that clips on the finger and also measures oxygen level). When his waking HR was more than 55bpm he didn't work out that day and usually the next day it was OK. The amount of rest a kid gets also can affect waking HR, so it isn't only the exercise part.

Very interesting stuff, thank you. Where did you get the monitor that clips on your finger and how much did it cost (if you don't mind me asking)? Thanks again for the information.
 
Very interesting stuff, thank you. Where did you get the monitor that clips on your finger and how much did it cost (if you don't mind me asking)? Thanks again for the information.

Panther; sorry for the slow response. Been out of the country for a few weeks and couldn't check Yappi, It seems to be blocked for some reason.

We bought the pulse/O2 meter at CVS for about $60. It slides right over any finger. I don't know that it makes any difference, but we always used the same finger... Obviously there is some day-to-day variation in measurements, but we found it worked quite well.

Now that I'm back, I'll try to find the paper links for you.
 
The Thomas Worthington girls varsity team has begun the taper. Basically that means that they won't be lifting two mornings a week anymore and won't be running an extra morning run two mornings a week either.

I think a taper is good IF the athletes were running enough to warrant a taper. If a kid is running 3-5 miles a day, then tapering isn't going to help them. The Thomas Worthington girls run up to 12 miles a day (that would be their big day each week), so paring that down a little bit will help them be fresher on the line and perhaps keep the nagging little aches and pains at bay.
 
We were trying to peak at our league meet, so we started our "taper" such that it is two weeks ago. We reduced our long run 10min the first week and 20min the second week. We also dropped a mile repeat each week (they were still doing at least one more than race distance) and switched our fast workout from intervals to race pace runs, cutting the later in 1/2 the second week. Total volume was down about 15-20%.

14 out of 20 ran PRs. Four of the other were within 15s of their PRs. (these include JH and HS)
 
If one's peak mileage was 65, and 60 was sustained through the season up until conference, what is a ballpark mileage you guys would put kids on states week?
 
copy/paste from indoor track thread.

I am a big believer in staying in touch with all speeds all year. The volumes at each speed change from phase to phase. The amount of anaerobic work is relatively low until 6-8 weeks from the ultimate meet outdoors.

Very rough rule of thumb:

November - Run without any structure. Enjoy running as an activity rather than as training.

December - Ramp up towards goal mileage for the winter. For those that have been running regularly in November add in Hills once per week, but let them rest in between hills as much as they want with the volume of work on the hill no more than 5% of their weekly mileage. Focus on developing a powerful, efficient stride. Also add in longer steady state runs once per week. Most high school athletes will benefit from beginning these as intervals with one minute breaks. Pace is ~0:15-0:20/mile slower than a tempo run. Once they can run these without slowing down, bump them up to 2 miles at a time. Gradually work their way up to ~10-15% of weekly mileage in a continuous run. Now is the time to being any ancillary training as well - plyos, weights, new core routines, etc. End the month with a week of unstructured training, but maintaining volume. Do strides of varying length and pace after the aerobic & long runs - one day do 300s at 1600 pace, another day do 200s at 800 pace, and another day to 100s at 400 pace. The rest should be unrestricted. These should be about efficiency at race speeds and shouldn't feel like a workout - there should be a sense of play while doing these.

January - Continue with the hills (reps @5-7% grade for 0:45 - 1:30) once per week. Intensity on the hills is equivalent to 800-1600 race, but the pace will work out to roughly 5k race pace. Encourage them to be aware of their cycle time (start --> start) and encourage them to reduce it from week to week. Convert the steady state runs to tempo runs. For newbies who have trouble with slowing down as the run goes on, continue using an interrupted format (cruise intervals) until they master the idea of running under control. Keep the volume near, but under, 10% of weekly mileage. Continue with the strides as weather permits - consider finding a downhill stretch on a nearby residential road when the track is covered with snow. If the road is icy and the track is covered, skip the strides. Weather permitting we convert one of the stride sessions each week to what I call power hills - 8 seconds ~all-out (98%) up a 7% grade on a 3 minute cycle time. Continue with ancillary work. Race 1-2 times during the month - it should be unpressured fun and simply to help kids remember why they are training.

February - drop the hills and begin tailoring workouts to eventual event specialties. For my group that means breaking out those that will have a primary focus on the 800 outdoors and another group that will be primarily interested in the 1600/3200 races outdoors. Instead of the hills, begin doing longer intervals near race paces. Let recovery time = ~run time, but don't be militant about this. Continue tempo runs once per week, strides/ power hills, and ancillary work. Race 1-2 times during the month. Tailor the meet to the individual athlete and their goals. There are lots of meets to choose from - not every meet is great for every kid.

Note: After the mileage build up in December, weekly volume cycles: 10% below average - average - 10% above average - average


We have had our fair share of success indoors over the years with this plan, but have never bothered with the OATCCC meet as the goal is to run great in late May and June and I don't want kids even thinking about trying to peak for that meet. If we have true hot dogs, we have taken them to the Indoor National meet, but then give them two weeks after that of lower intensity work where they run with other, slower runners, as the outdoor season begins.

==========================================

Throughout all winter training, no athlete should be pushing through a cold or injury. Also, remember that weather conditions can be really brutal and that adds stress on top of the normal training stress. It's easy to over do it. If you are a coach, don't be afraid to cancel a workout if you sense the kids are getting mentally, emotionally fatigued. This is especially true for the beginners/JV-type kids that aren't always clear in their heads on why they are training. Keep the mental/emotional load at a minimum. You don't want them fried by the end of April.

I hope this is coherent even if you disagree with it. It's late. I had no intention of writing this much and have no desire to edit anything. Hopefully someone finds something useful in it.
 
Let's keep it simple.

Professionals taper, with the last high intensity + high volume session about 10 days out, as their risk of injury is great, and if they do get injured, they can recover in time for their major championships. As I just stated, you only need to taper before a major competition near the end of the year, typically. Of course, you should 'taper' before every competition, but only for a few days. Further, essentially you should be 'tapered' before every high intensity session, to ensure the athlete is fully recovered and able to get the most gains out of any single high intensity training session. You may be able to taper up to 14 days out, but I think history has shown us this is a bit out dated, and the best results are usually somewhere between 7-14 days.

Since lower-level athletes (high school for example) may only need 5-7 days to taper before their major competitions, as their risk for injury is less as they can never reach the risky speeds of a world-class sprinter, for example. Thus, an 11.0 high school sprinter's "engine" doesn't get as hot as a sub-10 athlete's. So it takes them less time to 'cool down' anyways. That being said, this doesn't mean that a low level athlete should train more frequently than a high level athlete with access to multiple therapies. A schedule of three high intensity sessions per week may be easy to handle for someone with a PB of 10.3, but someone with a PB of 12 seconds would never be able to handle such a load. The 12 second sprinter can only generate so much stimulation in one single session, and thus has greater limits. The same applies to his recovery. He is not going to be able to recover from a speed session in 48 hours like the 10.3 sprinter can. The 12 second sprinter's battery is smaller, and thus drains faster. For this reason, you need not go more than two high intensity sessions per week with lower level athletes. You still may not go for a 3-HI with the 10.3 sprinter either, as it is highly individual, but chances are he will recover better. Just a clarification is all, simply that, though lower level athletes may have a shorter taper, this doesn't mean they need less recovery than a high level athlete, in fact, they need more.
 
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