Rest and Taper After a Maximal Performance – Thoughts on Tyson Gay

Last Updated on November 17, 2012 by Jimson Lee

We all know to rest and taper BEFORE the big meet.  That is just common sense.  For a good review, check out Derek’s 10 Day taper DVD.

Here are two of many guidelines I like to use for my sprinters:

1. 10 day taper AFTER a major Personal Best or World Record.
2. 5-7 100 meter races before a Championship meet to "get sharp".  3-5 races for the 400 meters.

Flashback to 2008

Tyson Gay ran a wind assisted 9.68 at the US Olympic Trials, which would have surpassed Usain Bolt’s existing WR of 9.72 if it weren’t for the wind.

Wind or no wind, 9.68 is still a maximal performance, because the human body still ran 9.68.

After the race, he severely injured his hamstring which resulted in a lack of races leading up to the Olympics once he recovered.  You can argue he wasn’t even 100% at the Olympics!  But you can’t blame him for running the 200m trials.  He was the best sprinter in the world in 2007 in both sprints events. 

What was he supposed to do?  Sit in the bleachers during the 200m heats?  Unlike some countries with pre-selection, there are no special exemptions or exceptions to qualify for the USA Olympic Team.  It’s Go Hard or Go Home.

I know, everyone is wondering how Usain Bolt did it.  Well, he did ease up in the 100 meters, and he didn’t run the semi-final of the 4×100 meter relay after his maximal 19.30 effort into a headwind.

2009 – A Different Scenario

This time around, Tyson Gay decides to rest after his scintillating 19.58 200m at the Rebook meet in New York.  Smart move (it satisfies my Criteria #1)

But this strategy won’t give him the required 5-7 races under his belt before the US National Championships.  No matter… he is peaking for Berlin, so that is all that matters.  With the “Michael Johnson rule” for the IAAF World Championships, he is granted a free pass and doesn’t need to qualify on his home turf.

Here is the partial article from The Guardian:

World 100 metres champion Tyson Gay has decided not to compete in Sunday’s Prefontaine Classic and likely will not run again until the U.S. championships in late June, his agent said on Thursday.

The American had considered running his first 100 metes of the season in Eugene after clocking 19.58 seconds, the third fastest 200 metres of all-time, at last weekend’s New York grand prix.

"It was probably slightly unrealistic to think Gay could recover that fast," his agent, Mark Wetmore, told Reuters. "He didn’t even really start jogging until yesterday… There is absolutely no injury."

Gay probably will not run again until the June 25-28 U.S. nationals in Eugene, Wetmore said. "But that is up to Tyson and his coach."

The championships serve as the U.S. trials for August’s world championships in Berlin.

September 2008 Newsletter

The following expert appeared on my Sept 1, 2008 newsletter, but was not published as a blog article.  (Hence a better reason to sign up for the Monthly newsletter)

Disclaimer: This commentary is not meant to criticize Tyson Gay or his coaching staff in any way.   I am simply using his unfortunate experiences to point out a few of my fundamental coaching principles.

Here are two of many guidelines I like to use for my sprinters:

1. 10 day taper AFTER a major Personal Best or World Record.
2. 5-7 100 meter races before a Championship meet to "get sharp".  3-5 races for the 400 meters

Let’s take a quick analysis:

1) 10 day Taper After a Personal Best or World Record

We all agree on a 7-10 day taper BEFORE a major Championship.  It is just as important AFTER a major performance.

Tyson Gay ran 4 rounds at the US Trials, including a wind-aided "world record" 9.68 at the time.  Sure, it was wind-aided, but his body still ran 9.68.  The amount of CNS (central nervous system) shock would be huge on any athlete; simply put, after a performance like that, you need time to recover.

I know it sounds crazy to say this, but Tyson could have skipped the 200m to focus on the 100 meters entirely.  Walter Dix doubled at the Trials and qualified in both events.  In the Olympics, Usain Bolt doubled with World Records in the 100m and 200m but his 100m was not a maximal performance (I’m sure we all love to see him run all out as he did in the 200m).  As well, several other athletes doubled without injury.

So Tyson’s injury was probably an unfortunate exception and a combination of other factors including a maximal performance.  Make no mistake about it: the US Trials is harder than the Olympics, at least for the Sprints.  You have to go hard or go home.

Asafa Powell took 7-10 days off after his three 9.77 and 9.74 WR between 2005 and 2007, despite lucrative offers from race directors to race soon after his world records.

Dwain Chambers quoted he would need an ambulance if he ran a 9.6 because his body would fall apart after a super maximal performance.  And he was supplementing!

The point I’m trying to make is you need to recover from a maximal performance.  How you adjust it for your athlete is up to you, and how well your athlete responds to maximal loads and multiple rounds.

2) 5-7 Races Before a Championship Meet to Get Sharp

The amount of races could be less, if you use the rounds as "races".  Of course, it also depends if you are in the position to ease through the rounds, or if you have to run all out.  Again, go hard or go home.

After the Olympic semi-final where Tyson did not advance to the finals, he quoted, "I may have needed more races, but I don’t really have any excuses.  I just didn’t make it. My hamstring feels good; it’s not bothering me."

There are just too many cues and too many phases to remember in a short 10 second 100 meter sprint.  Sprinting is a "hind brain" activity.  Even in the 400 meters, you need to divide the race into 8 "zones", and not the traditional 4 x 100 meter segments (blocks & curve, back straight, 2nd curve, home stretch)

I personally tried to run the Canadian 400 meter Masters Championships as my second 400m race of the year after focusing on the 200 meters all year.  I went out too hard, probably on sheer excitement and misjudging my competition.  I simply ran out of gas with 100 meters to go, and ended up 3rd (similar to Sanya Richards without the hamstring cramp – I had no excuses)

Comments and Feedback are always welcome.