world records have been set?

[Eway]

"Training hard in the two weeks prior to your race will not increase your fitness. Taper your running during this period of time can do you good. Tapering involves scaling back your running distance and effort level, and many world records have been set when, because of minor injuries, runners have had to taper their training in the two weeks prior to a race."

I thought a certain record was to be set after a race. What does it mean by "many world records have been set ...in the two weeks prior to a race"? What's the point of this sentence? I don't get it...

[Tdol]

It means that many people have trained less than normal because of minor injuries in the two weeks leading up to breaking the record.

[Eway]

Thanks! But...how come??
I read it over and over again and I think I don't understand this kind of sentence structure...

[rewboss]

I think the sentence is badly written, but the only way I can make sense of it is in this way:

If you train too hard, you tire yourself out and so you perform badly in a race. Sometimes a runner will have a minor injury about two weeks before a race. This forces him or her to take it easy when training, with the result that when they enter the race, their injury is healed and they haven't tired themselves out -- so they run faster. In this way, records have been set -- a runner forced to take it easy in training runs faster and ends up setting a new record.

[Eway]

Thanks! I think I got the idea!