How to Taper Correctly for a Marathon
The marathon taper can be a polarizing topic among marathon runners. Some look forward to the relative let up in training and will view it somewhat like a well-earned recovery period. Whereas other marathoners detest it and fear the anxiety that it creates.
It can be difficult for runners to cut back when their bodies and brains are so accustomed to releasing energy through daily runs and the feel-good mood boost you may get from the production of our natural endorphins from running.
However, it’s important to remember that you can’t perform at your best if you don’t recover like the best. But what does a proper marathon taper entail? Keep reading to find out!
The marathon taper involves decreasing your mileage, intensity, and long run distance at different rates as the race approaches, in order to start easing up on your total training volume, to recover from training, and to maximize your energy and physical readiness to perform on race day.
A full marathon taper begins about three weeks out from the race.
Here are some step-by-step guidelines for how to taper for a marathon:
3 Weeks From Race Day
Total Weekly Mileage:
Decrease by 10-15 percent of your peak or average weekly mileage during your training plan.
For example, if you’ve been averaging 50 miles per week (80 km), step down by 5-7 miles (8-12 km) for the week to 43-45 miles (68-72 km).
The easiest way to do this is to knock a couple of miles off your recovery runs and long run.
Intensity
Although you will begin to decrease your intensity later on in the marathon taper as the race gets closer, three weeks out, maintain the same intensity you’ve been doing for all your workouts and training runs.
The structure of your workouts does not need to change yet. Most studies suggest that it takes the body about 10 days to make the physiological adaptations after a workout, so the work you’re putting in this week is absolutely still “money in the bank” for your marathon performance.
Long Run Volume
Cut your long run mileage by about 10-20%.
So, for example, if you hit 20 miles as your longest long run, a long run of 16-18 miles is a good target, depending on how you feel and your experience level.
Another good guideline is to cap your long run to 2.5 hours (if you’ve been running closer to 3+ hours).
2 Weeks From Race Day
Here are the guidelines for how your marathon taper should begin two weeks before your marathon:
Total Weekly Mileage
Decrease by 25-30 percent of your peak or average weekly mileage during your training plan.
For example, if you’ve been averaging 50 miles per week (80 km), step down by 12-15 miles (20-24 km) for the week to 35-38 miles (56-60 km).
Intensity
Your last hard workout should be about 13 days out from the race, so on the Monday or Tuesday of the week, two weeks out from the race.
This should be a marathon-specific workout (pace work/tempo run), not VO2 max intervals, hills, sprints, etc.
Reduce the volume by about 30-40%, so if your tempo runs have been 10 miles, just do 6-7 at your goal marathon pace.
Long Run Volume
Cut your long run mileage to about half of your longest long run.
So, for example, if you hit 20 miles as your longest long run, run just 10 miles. If you’re a beginner, you might even want to drop to 8 miles.
Keep your frequency the same during the first two weeks of the taper. So, if you have been running five days a week during your marathon training plan, keep running 5 days a week, but just shorten the length of your runs.
The Week of the Marathon
Here is where the major marathon taper takes place. At this point, any training you do won’t make improvements in your fitness because physiological adaptations take about 10 days to really take effect.
Total Weekly Mileage
Your weekly mileage should be about 50-60% of your usual mileage at most. Take at least one extra rest day. Run a couple of miles the day before the race.
Intensity
You can do one fartlek run the Monday before the marathon and then keep your intensity by way of fast strides at the end of your easy runs.
Use your extra training time to relax, stretch, use the foam roller, and/or come in for a Fresh Legs Recovery Session with us to get ready for race day!
Now that you know how to taper correctly for a marathon, what about all of the rest of the training? If you are looking for a plan to follow, we have our very own custom race plans service for every experience level!
