COMPARING WEEKS
Taper arithmetic: compare the same days
A lower total can represent a planned reduction—or simply a week that is not finished.
Choose a completed or planned comparison
Use completed week against completed week, or planned week against planned week. Comparing a Wednesday total with a full previous week mixes two different windows. The result can look like a large reduction before the main sessions have happened.
Be explicit about the date range and whether you are describing distance already completed or the remaining plan. A label such as “this week” does not provide enough information by itself.
Calculate a reduction with the right denominator
The numbers in this example are illustrative, not a customer training record.
A previous 50 km week and a planned 35 km week differ by 15 km. The reduction relative to the previous week is 15 ÷ 50 × 100 = 30%. The new week is 70% of the old one.
| Statement | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Reduction from 50 to 35 | (50 − 35) ÷ 50 | 30% |
| New total as a share of old | 35 ÷ 50 | 70% |
| Increase needed from 35 back to 50 | (50 − 35) ÷ 35 | 42.9% |
The return increase is not 30%, because its denominator is 35 rather than 50.
Keep duration and intensity separate
This calculation concerns distance only. A shorter week can still contain demanding running, and the same distance can take different amounts of time. Do not infer the whole training demand from a distance percentage.
The example is not a recommended taper amount or schedule. Event preparation depends on more context than this arithmetic can contain. The useful step here is making sure a coach’s or runner’s intended change has been translated into the correct weekly totals.
Check how the week sits in the longer history
Use the eight-week volume review to see the recent sequence and the average alongside a planned total. Its planned-change percentage compares with the eight-week average, which is a different denominator from the previous-week example above.
Label the baseline whenever you quote a change. “Down 30% from last week” and “down 10% from the eight-week average” can both be true, but neither should be shortened to an unexplained percentage.