It's the most wonderful weeekkk...... of the yearrrrrrrr!

As happy as Andy Williams looks singing this song, I can assure you that I am happier right now. Is there a more wonderful series of days in the life of a triathlete than Taper Week? "Tapering" refers to the time preceding an athletic event when one dials back the training volume and intensity in order to allow the body to fully recover so you're fresh and primed for an optimal performance on race day. From a pure, athletic achievement standpoint, tapering is essential. From a pure enjoyment standpoint, tapering is divine.

Whether you're a couch potato or a professional athlete, an average triathlete or a Beast Wife, there's always something more you can strive for, regardless of how much effort, how many hours, or how many sacrifices you make to achieve your fitness goals. You always could have ridden 61 miles instead of 60. You could have knocked out just one more hill repeat. You could have actually made it to the pool rather than taking your 3rd "recovery" day in a row. No matter your level as an athlete, you could always do more. But not during Taper Week. During Taper Week, you can always do less (right Kunu?).

It's the Bizarro World of health and fitness. Long run today? Terrible choice. The torn muscle fibers in your legs will betray you during that first hill. Hill repeats on the bike? Good luck flushing that lactic acid away before the starting gun goes off. Long, hard swim workout to shock your system into suddenly being good at swimming? Guess what, Michael Phelps? You just turned yourself into Old Yeller crossing the crick (and we all know how that ends). During Taper Week, you are not only justified in working out less. You are REQUIRED to work out less.

A life lived in moderation should have a healthy dose of taper weeks. Incidentally, my problem is NOT a lack of taper weeks. Rather it's that I take too many taper weeks. That means I'm very experienced. If you're tapering for Wildflower this week, I suggest you follow my lead:

Spend 1-2 days NOT exercising

A good, relaxing stretch is nice. But be careful to stop if your heart rate starts to creep above Zone 0.5. If it does, quickly return to the couch and do 4 sets of 5 deep breaths.
Eat heartily, (mostly) healthfully, and happily. Gotta feed that engine, after all. With all that Zone 2 racing on the agenda, you're going to need some (more) fat to burn. Plus, you've been training for 16 weeks now. You deserve this. Most importantly... choose NOT to run.

Relaxedly prepare for the race

Race day and associated travel is stressful. Take some time to pack early, make lists, take trips to the market, and develop your race plan. I like to make a list early and then procrastinate and stay up until ungodly hours the night before I leave trying to find everything on my list. That approach doesn't work for everyone, but procrastination sure makes the other days luxurious.

Visualize race day

Visualizing success is an important part of any athlete's preparation. From an early age I was taught to close my eyes and picture success, hoping my subconscious would help to propel me past my physical barriers and promote actual athletic achievement. As a triathlete, my favorite exercise is to visualize the finish line, because once I pass it I don't have to race anymore. Also, it's at that time that I can eat and have a beer. It's almost like there's a 2nd Taper Week waiting for you just beyond the volunteers valiantly removing your timing chip and dodging globs of sweat, phlegm, and bile! Since I finished Wildflower's long course last year, I have a key advantage for the visualization stage of Taper Week that I'm happy to share with you: an image of me, at the finish line.

While Taper Week feels great right now, there's even more to look forward to (at least if I can fend off that ridiculous temptation to workout more than I should this week). Enjoy this week, Wildflower comrades! You've earned it. You deserve it. And you're going to need it. Rest assured, though, that it definitely feels like Christmas to be this guy right here: