The Taper: Shedding Fatigue, Revealing Fitness

The taper is the most psychologically difficult part of training. You feel antsy, you worry you are losing fitness, and every little ache feels like an injury. Relax. This is normal.

The Goal

$$ Performance = Fitness - Fatigue $$

To perform at your best, you need to minimize fatigue while maintaining fitness.

• Fitness takes ~30 days to decay significantly.
• Fatigue drops off quickly (5-7 days).

The Taper Formula

A standard taper lasts 7-14 days depending on the event distance (longer event = longer taper).

1. Reduce Volume Exponentially

Cut your duration significantly.

• 2 Weeks out: 75% of normal volume.
• Race Week: 40-50% of normal volume.

2. Maintain Intensity

Crucial: Do NOT just ride easy for 2 weeks. You will feel "flat" and sluggish.

• Keep the intensity of your intervals high (Zone 4/5), but reduce the number of intervals.
• Example: Instead of 5x5min VO2 max, do 2x3min VO2 max. You keep the engine revved without emptying the tank.

3. Sleep Like a Pro

Sleep is the greatest legal performance enhancer. Bank extra sleep in the week leading up to the race.

The "Taper Tantrums"

Expect to feel weird.

• Heavy Legs: Your muscles are storing extra glycogen and water. This is good!
• Phantom Pains: Your brain creates noise when it's not occupied with suffering. Ignore it.
• Doubt: "Did I train enough?" Yes, you did. It's too late to train more now anyway.

Race Week Sample (Sunday Race)

• Mon: Rest.
• Tue: Short Interval session (e.g., 3x3min hard). Total 45m.
• Wed: Easy Spin 45m.
• Thu: Rest or very light spin 30m.
• Fri: Openers (30m with 3x30s bursts).
• Sat: Off / Travel.
• Sun: RACE DAY.

Trust the process. Better to be 10% undertrained than 1% overtrained.