THE TAPER
PERIOD
One of the most critical periods prior to a race is what’s known as the taper period. In longer
distance events such as marathons, ultra-distance races and stage racing eventually a peak in
training volume is reached. Then comes the time to reduce volume, recover, sharpen and tweak
the body to arrive at race day fit and fresh. This is known as the taper period. Many athletes put
a lot of focus on the actual training and recovery aspects during this time but completely miss
the most fundamental aspect of the tapering period and that is nutrition. Another
misunderstanding is the type of quality training that needs to be maintained until race day. Many
athletes drop volume but then tend to neglect proper sharpening which involves speed and
strength work.
The kind of nutrition you take in the 2-3 weeks before a big event can make or break your big day.
There are a few areas that nutrition play a very critical role in when it comes to the taper period
and very often these can get the better of an athlete.
These
1.
2.
3.
4.
are:
Immune System Strength
Weight Management
Muscle Recovery
Race fuel preparation
Immune System Strength
An athlete’s biggest fear is falling ill prior to race day. Let’s face it when we hit peak training
volumes 3 weeks out from a big event our bodies are fatigued, immune system is low and we are
very susceptible to infection. Even more so when we are exposed to children or closed work
spaces on a daily basis. Contrary to popular belief athletes are quite weak at fighting illness
during volume periods of training.
Weight Management
Heavy volume training periods only mean one thing, cravings. An athlete requires food to fuel the
body not just from an energy point of view but also from a recovery perspective. Many athletes
also feel the need to eat because they deserve it after long hard sessions. Sugar highs and sugar
lows causes appetite triggers and as disciplined as athletes are when it comes to training, they
often fail when it comes to eating. Once training volume is reduced one of the toughest things to
be able to do is reduce the eating volume accordingly. Many athletes arrive at race day a lot
heavier than they were during training and this is a common athlete mistake.
Muscle Recovery
A taper period is there for one thing. Muscle recovery and strength gains. It’s time to repair, recover
and build. Remember training breaks you down, proper rest and recovery builds you up and
makes you stronger. How you recover physically has a large dependency on nutrition not just
reduced training and rest.
THE TAPER PERIOD | FUEL GUIDE