ul
Sanora Ngueyn
Is the two-week taper enough for a marathon? How big a reduction in mileage should you aim for? The final weeks of marathon training can be confusing. Here is our guide to the mysterious world of doing a little bit less...
One of the biggest mistakes that I have seen runners in my MRTT group make is to minimize the importance of recovery and the reverse taper. I have made the mistake myself of not taking a proper recovery and jumping right back into my training post half marathon. This can lead to exhaustion, poor performance, overtraining, and the dreaded injury. Recovery starts as soon as you cross the finish line.
There are differing opinions on when to return to running after a big race. I came up with my own formula for a 2 week Reverse Taper after a half marathon. This is a suggestion based on my own training, experience, and opinion. Please use your own judgment to decide if this plan is right for you. Feel free to modify based on your own experience.
Week one Passive recovery think light walking, stretching, and massage for the first few days. Add in light cross-training (swimming, cycling, elliptical for example) towards midweek. A short, easy run of 20-25 min if you feel up to it. Resuming running on the weekend with an easy 3-5 mile run.
Week Two Active recovery phase: Add back in 3-4 mile runs twice during the week if you feel up to it. Cross-training and rest days make up the rest of the week. The goal is to keep exertion at a moderate level. Saturday/Sunday add back in a 4-6 mile run. Assuming you are feeling good, resume your normal training load for week 3.
Hi I'm Deborah! I spend my days successfully raising a husband & 2 teens in the VA/DC area. I am a lover of all things running & fitness. As a life long vegetarian, I've always been passionate about healthy living & exercise. Looking for partners in crime, I started my own chapter of Moms Run This Town (MRTT) which has grown to over 700 members. I've met so many amazing women who inspire me daily to keep moving forward. You can usually find me running with my crew and training for the next crazy adventure they talked me into. I love to keep up to date on new running & fitness trends. I definitely choose my running gear based on color and love to express my fashion sense while exercising.
Forget the 20-mile long runs, the intense speed workouts, the grueling tempo runs. Tapering is the hardest part of training. Here are 7 struggles of marathon tapering. Trust me, there are more than 7.
I suggest to go by feel and return with a short, slow run when you feel ready. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) usually peaks by day 2 or 3 so it may be best to run after that has settled. You usually feel a lot better within a week but full recovery from a marathon make take a month or more.
The marathon is such a significant challenge for the body that it takes time to recover usual muscle function. Studies have shown reduced muscle strength, especially in the first 5-7 days post marathon, and muscle fiber repair continues for 3-4 weeks post marathon.
The first week after the Chicago Marathon was so real! I wanted to run, but my coach said rest. Then, traveling to another city I had a chance to run with a group here in Houston called ZFT. It was a great time to run with their marathon/half marathon trainees. I felt good the entire run and met some new runners along the way. Back to the grind next week with 4-5 run days to keep my stamina up for New York City. I cannot wait to meet you all.
Highlight of the week certainly was running the Chicago Marathon as part of my buildup to NYC! The weather was great, the crowds were even better. I ran with so much joy through my hometown and it got me so excited for a few more weeks of training to sharpen things up for the big apple!
The marathon taper is the last two or three weeks of marathon training. Your mileage decreases as you give your body the chance to replenish depleted muscles and store energy for the challenge to come.
A marathon taper is when you gradually reduce your mileage leading up to the race. Your training should have less volume over the weeks before the race and it should be progressive and intentional. You will keep in some speedwork, but the amount will also be reduced. Even though your weekly mileage is lower, you will still be running the same amount of times per week, although your schedule may be adjusted during race week. During this time you will likely also taper any strength training that you were doing during your training cycle.
The taper period allows your muscles to recover after months of hard training. It also gives your glycogen stores a chance to return to normal amounts in preparation for your race. This will ensure that you have the fuel needed to get you through your marathon.
Tapering can also help prevent the risk of overtraining by reducing the workload during your final weeks leading up to the race. It gives both your mind and body a chance to recover after the peak weeks of training.
Studies show that tapering works! In 2021 a study was done using the Strava data from recreational athletes. It found that athletes who followed a strict 3 week taper had the largest finishing time benefits: a median of 5 minutes 32.4 seconds or 2.6%!
During each week of a marathon taper you cut a percentage of mileage from your peak week of training. Typically you run about 60-65% of your peak mileage two weeks out from the race, and 40-50% the week of the race, not counting the mileage of the race itself. So if you ran 50 miles 3 weeks before the race, you might taper with 30 miles two weeks before the race and 20 miles the week of the race.
Depending on what workouts you were doing in training, you would include some intensity throughout the taper. About 10 days before your marathon you might do your final big workout (a longer weekday run with marathon-paced miles, for example) and still have a long run the weekend before the race. 4-6 days before the race you might do another workout that is shorter or with less reps, like a fartlek run. This might be intervals at marathon pace with a minute or two or recovery in between. Your paces for these workouts should be specific for the marathon.
Marathon tapers are typically two or three weeks long. A 2007 meta-analysis looked at multiple studies on tapering for swimmers, runners, and cyclists. Both the two and the three week tapers were effective, but the two week taper produced the maximum desired response. A more recent study in 2021 analyzed the training activities of more than 158,000 recreational marathon runners. They looked at the duration of the taper (one to four weeks) and how strict the runners followed the taper plan. This study found that three week tapers were associated with the best finishing times, but more importantly those who stuck to a strict taper had the best results. Those who followed a strict taper ran about 5:30 faster than those who followed a relaxed taper!
Based on the research it seems that either a two or three week taper is effective, and you might need to experiment to see what works for you. But more important than the length of the taper is actually following a strict taper plan. If you do use a three week taper, consider only reducing your mileage slightly when you are three weeks out. Otherwise you may end up reducing your workload too much over too long and feel flat on race day.
Other than strides, any other workouts should be done around marathon pace. A couple weeks before the race you can include longer marathon pace workouts. As the race gets closer you can start doing shorter intervals. These will allow you to get in some miles at that pace so your legs remember what it feels like without leaving you sore or fatigued.
The best way to approach a taper is to progressively decrease the duration of sessions and intervals every week. Cut the total volume by 30% in the first week of the taper and by another 50% in the race week. The last long run should be no later than 1 week before the race and no longer than 1 hour.
Tempo efforts. The best strategy for longer marathon pace efforts is to also cut the interval time by 30% in the first week and by 50% in the second week. So, a 20 minute tempo effort will become a 14 minute effort 2 weeks out and a 7 minute effort on race week.
Last month I was concerned about my long run and how I would feel running longer than 2 hours. A couple of weeks ago I did a 30K run and tested some of the gels I will use during the race. That was my longest training session to date and marked the end of the peaking period.
The week before your big event can be nerve-wracking, especially if you are running the distance in front of you for the first time or are looking accomplish a big goal. Here are a few ways to turn your nervous energy into proactive preparation.
While all the physical work is in the bag, ensuring success on race day requires special attention the marathon taper. The marathon taper is a delicate balance of maintaining fitness while promoting recovery. The following is a step-by-step guide to making sure you get the marathon taper right.
An example of a marathon specific workout in the taper portion of a marathon segment would be 2 x 3 miles or 2 x 2 miles (depending on your total weekly volume) at 10-15 seconds faster than marathon pace with 3 minutes recovery.
I ran my first marathon last year and did a 3 week taper. This year I am running with my friend who is wanting to do a shorter taper. If we do our longest 20 mile run on May 18th and race day is June 1st is that a long enough taper?
Hi Patricia, the question about pacing is something you would need to sign up for as that is what we help with while coaching our athletes. You can do so here: If you were asking about the tapering question, we have given you our thoughts; it should be kept to three weeks as we talked about above. Hope this helps! Is there anything else I can help you with?
aa06259810