tapering & racing

I like racing. There are people cheering for you and offering you stuff to eat and drink. That usually doesn't happen on training runs. I do races to train for other races. Depending on the distance, racing can act as a speed session with distance or as an opportunity to get in a really long run without too much boredom. I'm doing the Ice Age 50 mile race in May primarily to train for the Kettle Moraine 100 mile race in June. Doing a 50 mile training run would get pretty boring (though I might do one of those, too). On the other hand, 50K gives me the opportunity to really push it, amp up the pace, power through the distance, and to do it with camaraderie, encouragement, and support.

I guess a 60K is somewhere in between.

With racing comes tapering. Sigh. I don't know how to taper. I admit it. The problem is this: the usual taper time is 2-3 weeks before a race. Each time you taper, you lose 2-3 weeks of decent training. Suppose (uhum, hypothetically) one races every two weeks. Then one is in a perpetual state of tapering and racing. Bad. Even if you're not that extreme, if you race to train you lose the taper time from training. And that time adds up if you do many races. If racing is to be used as part of training, then tapering has to be handled more intelligently.

I'm not quite doing a race every two weeks, but I am doing a few fairly close together-- and Clinton is 2 weeks after LBL. Right now I am less than 2 weeks out from LBL. I shouldn't be tapering for Clinton or any subsequent race, but I should for LBL. See the problem?

I guess it comes down to how fresh you want to be on race day, and that's another variable in training. Some times it's good to start out with no energy in the tank to train your body (and mind) to function under those conditions, which always arise during ultras. Some times you want to be fresh so you can really push hard and move fast.

Right now I'm playin it by ear. My body is telling me it's a good time to scale it back, so I'm tapering.