Taper: single word capable of extreme happiness and excitement. Taper is something a swimmer dreams of. It's the point in the season where it's okay to goof off a little during practice and talk a lot to teammates with the excitement build up of an important meet. Characterized with a lot of start and turn work, it's physically easy but can be mentally challenging.
For me, taper sucks. Physically, it's supposed to be easy. But no matter how slow I go during warm up or rest that day, I never feel too good in the water. I'm guessing that's because my muscles are taking their coveted chance to finally fully recover and regain strength/energy but it has it's negative side effects. While it might not be a big deal that I'm not going fast in the pool, it takes a toll on your mentality. It sucks to swim slow but it sucks even more to be swimming slower than you usually do even if you are "resting". As much as I tell myself not to care about my times, I still think they're important. A bad time doesn't have much of an effect but once you start getting bad times a couple days in a row, it takes a toll.
Another reason taper kind of sucks is the dietary restrictions. Obviously it's important to be eating healthy all throughout the season but taper is when it becomes really crucial to be eating right. I don't just mean eating your greens and veggies, but not eating dairy (especially ice cream) or eating a ton of sugar. Since taper is so easy on your body, you aren't burning as many calories as you were before. Unfortunately, your stomach gets used to that much food intake and demands the same amount. So it's pretty easy to put on weight during taper which is pretty bad before a high profile meet.
However, not everything during taper for me is bad. Taper is the best time to get massages and cupped to fully recover and prep your body for a meet. Massages sound great until the masseuse tries to get every knot out of your back so it ends up being really painful. However the part where the masseuse massages your neck is the best and makes up for the really terrible moments. Even though getting a massage sounds very boujee, and extra, it's actually very beneficial for your body and some might even call it vital to a good race. I'm partially dreading the massage tomorrow but at least I know I'll be faster because of it.
Taper is a weird and foreign concept that can be rarely perfected. Although I'm really excited for sectionals and state, I always have those worrisome thoughts about my taper.
However, not everything during taper for me is bad. Taper is the best time to get massages and cupped to fully recover and prep your body for a meet. Massages sound great until the masseuse tries to get every knot out of your back so it ends up being really painful. However the part where the masseuse massages your neck is the best and makes up for the really terrible moments. Even though getting a massage sounds very boujee, and extra, it's actually very beneficial for your body and some might even call it vital to a good race. I'm partially dreading the massage tomorrow but at least I know I'll be faster because of it.
Taper is a weird and foreign concept that can be rarely perfected. Although I'm really excited for sectionals and state, I always have those worrisome thoughts about my taper.
This is a really great post. I definitely agree with the mixed feelings taper can inspire. On one hand, practices are easier, but it also just feels really weird to not be tired after getting used to always being tired for the rest of the season. And the dietary restrictions definitely suck. But like you said, it's also exciting that the final meets of the season are approaching.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! Taper seems super fun, you get to leave practice early and your muscles aren't sore every waking moment. But the dietary restrictions make it super hard to keep up and then you feel bad for breaking the diet.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I had my first taper this year and while it was nice towards the end that I got to leave a half hour into practice, I really disliked how gross I felt all the time. Another thing you mentioned about how your times in practice are really slow is totally true. I started to get really discouraged because my times were far from what they had been when I wasn't on taper, so I was worried I wasn't going to PR at my last meet. Luckily I found out that taper really does work and I PR'd by 4 seconds, which was totally unexpected.
ReplyDeleteI have never been on a swim team, and at ballet we have tech week before shows, so this concept is totally foreign to me. We push ourselves the hardest (and secretly eat a lot of junk) the week leading up to the shows, so I can't imagine going easy leading up to a big meet/game/show. I can understand some of the reasoning behind it, but the way it makes you feel gross and slow seems counter-intuitive to me. Maybe that's just because I'm used to tech week (which ironically also makes us feel gross and slow), but I can't understand this. To be fair though, we do get Thanksgiving break right before tech week, but we usually schedule optional classes then so we don't get out of shape. Good reflection on an interesting topic!
ReplyDeleteI don't do swimming but I can understand how this must feel. It reminds me of track practices before big meets where you have a very chill practice so you don't strain yourself but feel ready enough to do your best. In the end, as you've shown, it always works. Great job at state as usual! Nice post.
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