Tapering with WKO+ for running events

In his latest article, Matt Fitzgerald teams up with Stephen McGregor, PhD, to describe a method of using WKO+ to execute the perfect taper for longer running events. Learning to plan and execute the perfect taper will set you up for the best race that you can possibly have given your fitness level.

Tapering for running events, especially longer races such as marathons, is tricky. TrainingPeaks WKO+ can take a lot of the guesswork out of the process of planning and executing the perfect taper. In this article I will explain how.

It’s easy enough to execute a merely adequate taper—one that sets you up to race no worse than you can reasonably expect given your fitness level. This requires only that you train lightly for a few days before your race. But executing an optimal taper—one that sets you up for the best race that you can possibly have given your fitness level—is harder. This requires that you find just the right balance among several key variables, including the duration of the taper, the rate of training workload reduction, the absolute magnitude of training workload reduction, and the amount and types of high-intensity running that are performed within the taper.

Even the optimal taper would be easy enough to execute if every runner were the same. In this case, you would need only learn and apply the one-size-fits-all formula. But each runner is unique, so while you can rely on general principles of effective tapering to get you close to the optimal tapering protocol for you, the rest is up to you.

So what are the general principles of effective tapering? First, the duration of the taper should be proportionate to your training volume. If you’re a 20-miles-a-week runner training for a 5K, a three-day taper will suffice. If you’re a 100-miles-a-week runner training for a marathon, a three-week taper will be more suitable. A two-week taper is optimal for most competitive runners training for longer races.

To learn more about the principles of effective tapering and how WKO+ can help you execute the perfect taper, read the complete article here.

Comments

[brian]

This seems pretty straight forward but what values do you use for ATL and CTL? According to Dr. Coggan the default value for ATL (7) is for cyclist.