The hardest part of marathon training is not always the 20 mile long run, nor is it the months of dedicated training. For many runners, the hardest part of marathon training occurs during the final three weeks – the marathon taper.
The marathon taper isn’t some unnecessary design made to drive you crazy; the taper removes some training stress to allow your body to recover from the months of hard training so that you can benefit fully from your training. Without the taper, your body won’t be ready to peak on race day – think of how you don’t feel ready to race the marathon in the middle of training.
You know the benefits of the marathon taper – but oftentimes, the combination of restlessness and race nerves make the taper difficult. These tips will help you not just survive the marathon taper but also thrive in it so that you are ready to race your best on marathon day.
Typically, the mileage reduces by 80-85% three weeks out, 60-65% two weeks out, and 50% or slightly less the week of the race – but use these formulas as guidelines, not strict rules. I coach dozens of runners at the marathon distance, yet no two runners follow the same taper plan. Some have a 3 week gradual taper full of harder workouts, while others have a sharp 2 week taper with a couple tune-up workouts. If your previous tapers have left you feeling flat, adjust based on the guidelines to see if something different will work for you.
You won’t be eating as much as you did during the peak weeks of training, but you should not restrict your food intake. Think of food as fuel: you need to fuel your upcoming runs, even if they are shorter, and your upcoming race. Nutritious foods will also aid in recovery.
If you are worried about gaining weight, be realistic about your portions (you don’t need quite as much as you did after your 20 miler!) and save the indulgent treats until after your marathon. Don’t restrict your calories or try to lose weight during this time – focus on giving your body the nutrients and energy it needs to finish off training and prepare for the marathon.
A majority of runners thrive on doing things and achieving goals – which is why some runners struggle with taking rest days. Taking a complete rest day may make some runners feel as if they aren’t working toward their goals – but adding in light, non-running activities to facilitate recovery makes the rest easier while still achieving the same purpose.
Just as light activity such as a long walk or yoga will help you with the mental aspect of a rest day, adding in non-running activities geared towards the marathon will help you cope with the taper. Spend the time you would have spent running on foam rolling, visualization, mental preparation, studying the race course, and similar activities. You will still have the feeling of accomplishing something, but be honoring the reduction in training that you need as well.
Think of the taper period as a sharpening period: you are both resting up for the race and honing your body’s ability to run a long distance at a certain pace. While you don’t want to err on the side of running too hard in the taper, you also don’t want to spend 2-3 weeks only doing easy running. A long taper of only easy running will produce the taper crazies, decrease your fitness, and dampen your confidence.
The hard workouts during the taper period should be specific to the unique physiological demands of the race. The most beneficial workouts are done at goal pace or ever so slightly faster. For the marathon, this means marathon pace runs and perhaps some shorter tempo runs. The marathon taper is emphatically not the time to run 5K pace repeats if it’s been months since you’ve been to the track.
Marathon pace will feel comfortable by this point in training, but don’t push too hard on those sharpening workouts. The goal is to help you physically and mentally hone in on what race pace feels like – not to try to set a 5K or 10K PR in the middle of training.
You should have already been keeping a majority of your training runs at a light, conversational effort – but now more than ever, you want to avoid accumulating unnecessary fatigue. On all runs other than your hard workouts, run easy enough that you can carry on a conversation. If monitoring pace helps you, aim for 1-2 minutes per mile slower than goal marathon pace. If the pace messes with your mind, cover your watch, run at an effort with minimal aerobic strain, and think about saving your legs for race day.
The marathon taper is comprehensive – meaning that you aren’t just tapering from running, you’re taper from training as a whole. In the final 7-10 days before the race, cut back on strength training and cross-training. Don’t take any new fitness classes or start a new cross-training program during this time, either.
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How well do you handle the taper?
15 Responses
I think I handle the taper pretty well. At that point in training, I’m ready for a reduction in miles and more time to do other things besides running.
Great tips! I usually find that by the time I get to the taper I am ready for a break, but its nice to still get in 1 challenging workout a week. During my taper for my last marathon I felt like I was just as hungry during the taper as during the peak weeks of training! I think all the hard work was catching up with me.
Taper can be so much fun, and great way to get jazzed up for your race if you do it correctly!
I hope people who are thinking about running a marathon (or a half) are reading posts like this. Such great tips!
I love taper! It’s soooo nice after all that hard work to be able to cut back on the mileage, sleep in a wee bit more, and have a 10 mile long run feel “short”. I get race nerves and anxiety but I’m sure that would happen regardless of how much training I’m doing. That said, most of the mileage cuts in taper usually come just from the long run, so at least in the first week it doesn’t even really feel like a taper and that can be frustrating when I’ve worked so hard and all I wanna do is relax a bit!
I really have to make an effort to rein in my taper workouts – with all the fitness I’ve built up and the extra energy from resting more, it can be so hard not to push the pace!
I’ve honestly never tapered for a race (I don’t run marathons), but these seem like good tips. I’ve thought about tapering for future half marathons and even shorter distances too (my last half was a train through race for my goal half, which I didn’t make it to thanks to peroneal tendonitis, but oh well). I like that you give the tip to keep running because a lot of people will drastically reduce their mileage when tapering and I feel like that would leave me stale before the race.
well you know I haven’t trained for a marathon but I know enough to trust whatever you say about tapering and training for sure!
As you know, I don’t race that much so that I don’t have to taper as often or recover after the race! I just like to…. run. Pretty much!
We shall soon find out how I handle the taper…….
I love the taper! It’s one of my favorite parts of training.
For my first marathon, the taper felt so odd that I was popping in workout dvds that last week before the marathon which were not exactly low impact! Oh the things I wish I had known. Great post, Laura!
I loooove tapers. I can easily over-taper if I don’t have a solid plan in place.
I’ve never done a marathon, and I’ve found that now that I’m a fairly experienced half marathoner, I don’t need as much taper before the race — but you still need some!
I’m usually tired by the time I’ve come to the end of just half training — I just can’t even imagine with a full. I love to rest — I cannot lie!
I LOVE my taper! It’s like a well-earned mini vacation.
Thankfully, I didn’t feel *too* crazy when I tapered for my marathon but just reading about it makes me wanna sign up for another …does that make me nuts? haha