Tapering!!!

The end of the Cross Country season is coming. That means tapering!!!!

Tapering is when you go from running 45 miles a week to only running like 20 miles a week. When your season is ending you really don’t have much time to build up strength and endurance so instead you taper, so your legs can heal from all the hard training and you have a surplus of energy.

We have been tapering for about a week now and I already have a ridiculous amount of energy. I didn’t think it was possible that tapering could have that much effect on someone, but I think everyone just thinks I am weird now, because I have a crazy amount of energy and I literally can’t stay put.

Tapering is very important for runners. It makes a big difference in how someone runs their final races. Last year, I improved be 30 seconds after 2 weeks of tapering and I am really hoping I can do that again this year.

So how much should you taper? Well you should start tapering about 2 weeks before your last race and on the second to last week you should run about one fourth of what you have been running. Then on the week before the race you should cut your running back by at least 50%. Sometimes it’s hard to judge exactly how much you should taper. You do not want to get out of shape and you do not want to train to hard. Sometimes you just have to use your best judgment and sometimes, if you are lucky like me, your coach is a really good coach and he knows what you need to run. Just make sure you run what you need to, or else your last race will not be as successful.

Tapering week is one of my favorite weeks. I get home from practice a lot earlier than I normally do and I have a lot more energy. Freshman year, I was an alternate for state and everyone was a lot faster than me, so I did not really get much tapering, but last year when I actually got to taper, It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to these weeks of tapering!

There are also negative aspects to tapering week. It means the season is coming to an end and there is a lot of pressure to do well in your last meet. But if you learn to ignore the pressure and realize that even though your season is ending, you have had a lot of great times, these weeks can be a lot of fun.

Tapering is a lot of fun and very useful, but you have taper right or else it could have a big effect on how you perform in your last races of the season.