There are various opinions on the MdS taper period, the amount of time needed to recover from months of hard training effort and arrive at the beginning of Stage 1 fully refreshed.
Tapering is important from both a physical as well as mental perspective, to arrive physically topped up and mentally raring to go. It's so tempting to keep pushing the distances right up to a week or two before the event but risk arriving stale and tired.
Personally the peak of my training was last week's total of 63 miles, including the 58.6 miles back-to-back. As that was the end of an extended 4 week training cycle with several 20+ mile outings my own taper period will in effect be 4 weeks.
This week has been very light: a "speed play" session of 4 miles (sprinting and resting between lamp posts) and a consistent running speed over a cross-country 18 miles with some ascent where I only walked a total of 10 minutes.
My remaining taper period will be similar. My longest outing this coming week will be about 14 miles and I'll be doing several shorter but fast runs carrying a rucksack not exceeding 5kg. I'll also add in a few swims and weights sessions. The plan is not to go over 30 miles a week over the next couple of weeks.
My final taper week will include Stage 1 of the MdS starting on Sunday 8 April and will be very easy: lots of stretching, a couple of 5 mile runs or walks.
And that's it. The physical training for MdS 2012, which began in January 2011, will be finished.
