Resources - Injuries

 

 

 

Tapering

By Jake Kennedy, RPT

One of the key components for optimal performance in endurance sports is tapering-decreasing your exercise as you near an event so your body will be properly replenished and able to perform better. For long endurance events, such as a marathon, you need to scale your training back one to two weeks prior to the race.

Research suggests cutting your mileage back by 30 to 40 percent two weeks prior and a 50 to 60 percent reduction the week before the race. The last two or three days before the marathon, your activity should be extremely light-maybe one or two miles a day.

The reasons for tapering are as follows:

  • Tapering allows for muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints to recover from months of high intensity training.
  • With marathon training, particularly long runs, there are microscopic breakdowns in these structures. The tapering period allows this damage to heal, letting you perform at 100 percent.
  • The tapering period allows your muscles to store the most energy that they possibly can. This will hopefully allow you to avoid "hitting the wall" or push this stage back later in your run.

MARATHON ENERGY

To run the Boston Marathon(r) scientifically you need to understand the body and its energy systems. Inappropriate responses may lead to slower times, dropping out, or even worse, injury.

The body must convert fuel into energy to function. When we run, we require greater amounts of energy. The fuel we use is a combination of glycogen and oxygen. We get glycogen from food and we get oxygen from air.

For different types of exercise and sports, we use different systems to produce energy. The first two systems are anaerobic (not requiring oxygen) and the third system is aerobic (requiring oxygen).

The first system can produce only small a small amount of energy; however, it can produce it quickly. An example is lifting a heavy weight one time or sprinting ten yards. For these short bursts we break down the glycogen already stored in our muscles.

The second system is the aerobic system. This is when we exercise continuously and keep a slow, moderate or brisk pace for an extended period of time. Examples include swimming, walking, jogging, skiing, using the Nordic Track, etc. This does not include basketball, tennis, or weight lifting. These activities intersperse intense periods of exercise with rest periods.

When the body is not working at maximum capacity, we can take the time to bring oxygen into the equation. Utilizing oxygen with glycogen allows us to produce four times more energy than the anaerobic system. Obviously a marathoner would opt for this aerobic/oxygen system to produce the most total energy.

There is another reason to tap into this aerobic system for our fuel source. It doesn't produce the waste product lactic acid. Lactic acid is produced when the body uses anaerobic systems and it interferes with the muscles ability to work. When runners have too much lactic acid in their blood, their legs will get heavy and are forced to slow down. High levels of lactic acid can make runners feel as if they are carrying a refrigerator on their back.

Efficient runners use their aerobic system and limit the build up of lactic acid. How? By warming up, starting out slow and staying within their means.

Less lactic acid build up allows your aerobic system to last longer and will help you to finish stronger with fresher legs.