You’ve pushed through tired legs on your long runs; hit the track for speed workouts until your shoes were soaked with sweat; and recorded enough miles to put your car to shame. With three weeks to go until the big race, all the hard work is done, right? Well, yes and no. 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.

Three weeks before goal race

1. Reduce weekly mileage to 85-90% of you maximum.

a. It’s actually not too difficult to reduce your mileage by 15%. For example, if you’re running 50 miles per week, you only need to cut out 7 miles from your weekly running routine. This can be done by giving yourself an extra rest day or by simply cutting out 2 or 3 miles from your regular recovery runs.

2. Maintain intensity

a. Some training plans begin to drastically cut workout volumes starting three weeks out from the race. I think this is a mistake to avoid if you’ve been training diligently for 16 to 20 weeks. Physiologically, your body takes 10 days to realize the benefits from a workout and completely recover. As an insurance policy, I suggest performing your last workout 13 days prior to the marathon; starting the taper too early robs you of another potentially great workout.
b. Make sure that your workout is specific to the marathon – you don’t need any V02max workouts or speed sessions at this point. The workout should be similar to what you’ve been doing the rest of your training plan (i.e. no need to get nervous and think you need to blast the best workout of your life).

3. Reduce long run volume by 10 to 20%

a. You don’t need to completely eliminate the long run yet, but you do want to avoid making yourself too tired. If your longest run so far was 20 miles, I suggest a run anywhere from 16 to 18 miles. However, listen to your body. If you feel sluggish and tired, have the confidence to cut the long run back.

Two weeks before goal race

1. Reduce weekly mileage to 70 to 75% of maximum.

a. Reducing the mileage this week is actually easier than last week. Your long run will be shorter and your intense workouts, which should be your biggest volume days, will also be reduced. For example, a 50-mile week will be reduced to 35 to 38 miles. With no long run and less intense workouts, your easy recovery miles should remain relatively stable or minus only a mile or two.

2. One medium intensity workout.

a. Your last workout of any real difficulty should be on Monday or Tuesday. The volume of this workout should be reduced by 60-70% of your normal hard day. For example, if your tempo intervals usually total 9 miles, this workout should be about 6 miles in total distance. Again, make sure the workout is marathon specific, so no VO2max workouts. This is a good opportunity for you to practice marathon pace.

3. Reduce long run by 50 to 60%

a. At this point in your training the “hay is in the barn”. You can’t gain any more fitness, but you can certainly tire yourself out. The distance of this run is more a psychological boost to keep you in a routine and to prevent you from feeling like you’re doing nothing. If you’re feeling fatigued, don’t hesitate to back off the mileage and opt for a shorter distance.

The week of the race

1. Significantly reduce mileage.

a. If you thought training was tough, wait until you try to reduce your mileage the week before a marathon. It takes discipline and confidence to give your body the rest it needs. You should consider giving yourself an extra rest day while reducing your daily runs by 50 to 60% of their normal volume. So, if you’re used to running 8 miles on your easy recovery days, you should target 5-6 miles instead.

2. One mini fartlek session

a. I advise doing one very easy fartlek session to help alleviate nerves and to remind your body what marathon pace feels like. I suggest performing a workout like: 15-20 minute warm-up, 6-8 x 2 minutes at marathon pace with 2 minutes easy running between, 10-15 minute cool down. This workout won’t leave you fatigued, but it will give you a little bit of confidence and nice pop in your step.

3. Run the day before the marathon

a. I advocate running the day before the marathon. I suggest running anywhere from 1 to 3 miles very easy. Running will help promote blood flow your legs and will make you less nervous. Running the day before a race also stimulates the central nervous system, which will enable your legs to respond better the following morning.

Tapering for the marathon is a very difficult task. Whether you’re an experienced veteran looking to set a new personal best or a beginner running the marathon for the first time, the marathon taper is filled with anxiety and nerves. Just remember that you’ve put in the training and don’t go overboard on the taper. If the taper portion of the marathon has you really worried and confused, don’t hesitate to sign up for a RunnersConnect membership and let us do all the thinking for you.

If so, please join over 2,500 runners who receive exclusive running tips, and get a FREE COPY of my Marathon Training eBook! Just enter your name and email