So you’ve done the work, you’ve logged the miles and race day is rapidly approaching. What is a triathlete to do? Well, one of the best things you can do is back off. During my years working with Ironman triathletes, I have seen far too many athletes hurting their race-day performances by training too hard and too long on Alii Drive and other courses during their final week of pre-race training. Don’t let that be you. Here is a three-week taper for Ironman and half-Ironman events that will leave you not only rested and recovered, but also fresh and race ready. This is very similar to the taper I used with Craig Alexander before he won the 2008 Ironman World Championship, and it’s very similar to the one he’s using to prepare for this weekend’s Ironman World Championship race in Kona, Hawaii.

In general, the full Ironman taper is somewhere in the 10-20 day range, but the first 7-10 days are barely noticeable.  The general idea for most of my people is to reduce overall volume for the entire three weeks; a little the first week, a lot the second week, and then the week of the race is super light.  The absolute intensity stays about the same, but the volume of that intensity comes down over the three weeks as well. The frequency of training should be nearly the same as the rest of the training, maybe a little lighter. You can do less riding and especially running, but increase the number of swims you do, of course assuming that, because you’re already in very good swimming shape, an increase in swimming volume won’t beat you down. Lower-impact workouts is what you’re going for (swimming, cycling, then running, in that order), while not just sitting around on the couch consuming empty calories and letting your pre-race jitters get the best of you.

Here is a sample two-week block that brings the overall training volume from 15-16 hour per week to 6-8 hours per week. While Craig Alexander’s exact schedule is not the same as this one, he has been following a very similar progression as he heads into the 2009 Ironman World Championship this weekend. The first week of the taper is omitted because it’s simply a slight reduction (15-25%) in training volume compared to the previous week of workouts.

T-Minus Two Weeks To Race
Monday: off
Tuesday:
Bike: 45 min RecoveryMiles
Swim: 2700 yards total - 400 warm up-mixed strokes/drills, main set: 2x1000 at race pace on 45 sec rest, 4x25 all out on 20 sec rest, 300 cool down
Wednesday:
Bike: 1:30 EnduranceMiles
Run: 30 min recovery pace
Thursday:
Run: 1 hour run with 6x10 second Strides
Swim: 3000 yards total - 400 warm up, 20x100, 8x25, 400 cool down
Friday:
Bike: 30 min RecoveryMiles
Run: 20 min Recovery Run with 4x15 second Strides
Saturday:
Bike: 2 hour EnduranceMiles with 30 min Tempo interval
Swim: 2000 yard endurance swim
Sunday:
Run: 1:15 run with 10 min Steady State interval

Race Week
Monday: Off
Tuesday:
Bike: 90 min endurance miles with 2x10 min Tempo.
Swim: EnduranceSwim 2600 yards
Wednesday:
Run: 45 min endurance run with 6x15 sec Strides
Thursday:
Bike: 1 hour EnduranceMiles with 2x5 min SteadyState
Run: 30 min recovery run
Friday: off
Saturday:
Swim: 30 min open water swim
Bike: 15 min RecoveryMiles
Run: 20 min Recovery Run with 4x10 sec Strides
Sunday: RACE