How to Taper for Race Day
Tapering isn’t as simple as just drastically dropping you weekly mileage in the week leading into a major race. There’s a lot more to it than that. Get it wrong and all the hard work you’ve done in preparing for race day will be out the window. But if you time things correctly, you’ll feel fast, fresh and ready to roll…or run.
Tapering starts two weeks out from any race of half marathon or more. For shorter distance events you can look at a 9 day taper, but for this article we’re going to focus on the longer stuff. The first rule of thumb is to treat your taper similar to your training build-up. Essentially you need to gradually drop the mileage and not go from 140km one week to 80km the next. It’s a case of winding down the volume while ramping up the recovery. By this it’s meant that as you reduce your daily distances or even drop a couple of morning runs, use this extra time to either sleep more or do some stretching.
Now lets focus in the running side of things for what we consider a mid-level athlete. If you over-taper, or do too little, you may end up feeling lethargic and not as fresh as you would hope. This occurs because your body becomes conditioned to the weekly grind of training and when you make major changes to the regime your body takes a while to react. Thus, the reductions in your training should start with cutting back your long run by about 15% two weeks out. Then as the week progresses, reduce the mileage of each of your daily runs by around 10% of what they were the week before. But this should be accompanied by marginally increasing the intensity of your interval sessions. Why? Well by dropping the mileage you are allowing your body to absorb the hard work you’ve done, and by upping the intensity you’ll be putting the finishing touches on your preparation.
Race week is the most important part. Once again, drop the long run by another 25%. So if you did 2 hours last Sunday, then this week you want to do 90 minutes. Assuming your event is on a Sunday, this brings us to the last six days before racing. Basically, drop each of your general runs by 10-15% of what they were the previous week. Monday should be an easy run of 45minutes and some strides. Tuesday is a light session, for example 4 x 1km at under race pace. Wednesday is the same as Monday. Thursday should be a light run and is also when you need to start to be really focused on sleeping well, eating healthy and hydrating.
The Friday should be a rest day and if possible a light massage. Plus now’s the time to do some mental rehearsal. Think about your goal time and study the course. Get to know where the hills are and prepare yourself for the challenge ahead. Saturday is all about getting your gear ready for the next morning, doing a gentle jog of 20 minutes, stretching and being relaxed. The more organised you are the day before, the more relaxed you’ll be on race day. Be confident in your training and preparation and get to the start line early. Eat a light breakfast and drink plenty of fluids. From here, you’re on your own! Race well and regardless of how things are going, fight as hard as you can and teach yourself to suffer. That way, next time you toe the line you’ll know just how hard you can push.
Example 2 week taper for a marathon
Sunday: 2 hours
Monday: 1 hour
Tuesday: Session (EG 6 x 1km)
Wednesday: 1 hour
Thursday: Session (EG Mona Fartlek)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Steady 8km (At race pace)
Sunday: 90 Minutes
Monday: 45 Minutes
Tuesday: Light session (EG 4 x 1km under race pace)
Wednesday: 45 Minutes
Thursday: 40 minutes
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 20 minutes
Sunday – Race Day!
*The above is based on an athlete of sub 85 minute half marathon ability or sub 3:00 marathon.