A common saying among veteran and elite marathoners is that “the marathon taper schedule is harder than the training itself.”
When you’ve achieved a level of fitness where you’re no longer worried about your ability to complete the long runs, high mileage and daunting workouts, the thought of not training and losing fitness while following your marathon taper plan is scarier than any workout a coach can conjure up.
More importantly, the taper portion of a marathon training schedule is also the time when runners make the most costly mistakes.
Whether it be too little running, getting off a normal routine, or getting too worked up, it’s easy to ruin months of training during what should an relatively easy three weeks of training.
In this article, I am going to outline the three most common tapering mistakes I encounter when working with marathon runners in the final week before a marathon. While this isn’t an exhaustive list, it does represent some of the less obvious mistakes you might have read about in the past.
These mistakes can also be made by runners following a taper for the half marathon too.
3 Weeks Marathon Taper Plan: Don’t Rest Too Much!
The single biggest mistake I see in marathon tapers is that people over-taper in the last three weeks leading into the race.
This leads to feeling flat and sluggish on race day and increases the chance that you’ll come down with some type of sickness as your metabolism and immune system crash due to the sudden change in activity and demands on the body.
Ever notice that you feel slow, tired, heavy after you rest for a few days?
Don’t worry, its normal:
One reason I’ve found athletes to want to drop their mileage and/or intensity too much is that they don’t immediately feel good after a couple of extra easy days or a rest day.
Most runners expect immediate gratification and to suddenly feel a pep in their step with just a few easy days.
Keep in mind that it can take up 10-12 days to full absorb and recover from a hard workout. So, if your last hard long run was just last weekend, don’t expect to feel fresh for at least another week.
How should I taper 3 weeks before the marathon?
Most runners will find that reducing mileage to 80-90% of your max mileage will provide a sufficient respite from the training load without leaving you flat or sluggish.
For example, if your peak mileage was 60 miles, your mileage would drop to 48-54 miles for the week.
Likewise make sure you maintain some intensity throughout this week of training.
While your hardest workouts are definitely behind you, it’s important not to step off the gas pedal right away.
Usually, I recommend performing just one workout this week (mainly because I like to schedule the last hard long run the previous weekend and want to ensure recovery).
Here is a workout you could try:
2-3 mile warm up
8 mile tempo – first 4 miles at marathon pace, second 4 miles as fast as you can (usually half marathon pace).
2-3 mile cool down
This workout provides some practice with running at your goal marathon pace (which should feel pretty easy at this point in the training) and a chance to “blow out the tubes” and get in one more confidence boosting session.
With mostly marathon paced workouts left for training, it can be good for the confidence to run quickly and finish strong and fast.
2 Weeks Marathon Taper Plan: Run Marathon Pace Workouts
Perhaps the most detrimental marathon tapering mistake runners make is not keeping the workouts specific to the marathon in the last two weeks of the training cycle.
For example, I often see runners try to do short, speed-oriented workouts to build confidence, make them feel faster, or because the thought of long workouts when they are supposed to be tapering scares them.
Don’t make this mistake:
Runners love to do Yasso 800’s as a final race pace predictor, but you are risking your performance on race day by doing this.
Here’s why:
The problem with this approach is two-fold.
By performing a type of workout and using an energy system you haven’t been utilizing in the last four to six weeks, you actually fatigue your muscles more because your body isn’t conditioned to it.
It would be the same feeling as performing a set of heavy squats when you haven’t lifted in 4-6 weeks.
Second, one of the most critical components to race day success is being able to execute your race plan and run the correct pace, especially at the start of the race.
In the last two weeks, you should capitalize on the opportunity to practice marathon pace (if you are racing the Boston marathon, we have created a Boston marathon pace calculator).
Not only does this ensure you work the exact energy systems you need for race day, but it will provide that crucial, last minute pacing feedback you need to execute the perfect race plan.
How should I taper 2 weeks before the marathon?
I would recommend doing two workouts in this week.
The first is a longer, straight marathon paced run, usually a 6-8 mile tempo, depending on the normal weekly training volume.
When?
This workout usually occurs 10 days out from race day to ensure maximum recovery even though marathon pace should feel pretty moderate at this point.
The second workout is a broken marathon paced run, usually 2 x 3 miles at marathon pace with 3 minute rest.
Again, this workout will help you solidify race pace, but the 3 minute rest ensures that it’s not a hard effort.
Week of the Marathon Taper Plan: Don’t Worry About Gaining Weight!
The last week of marathon training is definitely the most difficult mentally.
No matter how hard you’ve trained or how many miles you’ve run, you’re going to fear that you can’t run 26.2 miles, never mind 26.2 miles at your goal marathon pace.
Trust me, even elites who averaged 150 miles per week and put in some crazy workouts have this fear!
However, a less obvious fear that almost all runners encounter is putting on weight during the final week of tapering.
All runners have been told that they need to load up on carbohydrates and build their glycogen stores as race day approaches.
However, because you’re also significantly cutting your training volumes and intensities, this increased calorie intake is bound to pack on a few extra pounds or two.
It’s a conundrum, especially if you’ve been trying to lose weight the entire training cycle and because this is the time you want to feel light and nimble.
As a result, it’s a battle to get the glycogen you need without feeling like a the marshmallow man.
Typically, the desire to avoid weight gain wins the battle and glycogen stores don’t get maxed out.
Don’t risk your race!
How should I taper the week before the marathon?
First, remember that a little weight gain is ok.
Not only should you be storing extra fluids, which will tip the scale, but a full gas tank is much more important than a few pounds on race day.
Second, my recommendation is to change your eating eating habits so that you’re getting in the energy and calories you need without feeling stuffed.
Graze on healthy snacks, such as root vegetables and high-quality carbohydrates (oatmeal and whole grains for example) throughout the day.
Also, keep your meals to under 600-700 calories, especially in the last two days before the race.
Grazing and keeping your main meals small will help ensure that the calories are stored as glycogen, not fat.
RunnersConnect Bonus
Download your FREE Marathon Nutrition During Your Taper Guide.
The guide contains a plan of exactly what you should be eating in the 5 days to 3 hours before your race. We give specific food recommendations to make sure you are ready on race day.
Here are two complimentary marathon taper nutrition articles:
6 Nutrition Tips for the Perfect Marathon Taper
Nutrition During the Marathon Taper
As your big race day approaches, consider these three tapering mistakes gleaned from years of coaching marathon runners and make sure you don’t fall victim to the same pitfalls in the last three weeks of your training plan.
Read all about Gels for marathon training.
A version of this post originally appeared at competitor.com
11 Responses
Very timely post, I’m in week two of my taper, 10 days out from my marathon, and had 3X1600 on my schedule. I tweaked my Achilles a few days ago and while it seems fine, I didn’t want to push things, and having done this workout a year ago, I knew I’d find myself comparing times. So I switched to 8 miles at MP, ended up being one of the best taper runs I’ve ever done, even did the last 4 at HMP (accidentally – was running by feel) and felt like I had a ton left in the tank. Great confidence booster, now I feel like I can really ease up the rest of the taper and keep things mostly easy with some strides.
That darn achilles is a bugger 🙂 Glad you had a great workout though, that 8 mile tempo has always been a big confidence booster and glad it worked for you unintentionally.
Currently doing half marys, “A” race is 11/10. Maybe it’s because I’m a “Masters” age-grouper, but I have found I need a little longer than a week to taper, closer to 10 days, for my legs/energy to feel “refreshed”. (I start taper Th, race not next Sat but one following).
Any tips or suggestions on adapting the above to my situation? Thanks!
Love the newsletter and website – so useful.
Thanks for the compliments, MJ! One thing is that this is a marathon taper schedule, so the HM will look a little different. I’ve also found the same with Masters runners I coach – the taper needs to start a bit earlier. Usually, it’s not the mileage that needs to come down (another 3 tapering mistakes article here, just not marathon specific ) it’s the intensity. Here’s what a non marathon taper typically looks like for a pretty experienced Masters runner (meaning, you don’t have to copy the exact workouts, but helps give you an idea):
Monday Easy miles
Tuesday 2 mile w/u, 5 x 1.5 miles at HM pace w/2min “jog” (30 seconds slower than MP) rest, 2 mile c/d – last hard effort, HM specific
Wednesday Off – rest day
Thursday Easy miles
Friday 3 mile w/u, 4 miles at 10 faster than MP, 2 mile c/d – pretty moderate effort, really not hard. Typical workouts in 6-8 mile range
Saturday 12 mile long run – all easy pace – normal long run 16-18
Sunday Easy miles
Total
Monday Easy miles
Tuesday 3 mile w/u, 2 x 1 mile @ 3k-5k pace pace w/4min rest, 2 x 400 at mile pace w/3min rest, 2 mile c/d – my favorite pre race workout for anything other than marathon
Wednesday Off – rest day
Thursday 8 miles easy – no strides
Friday 6 miles easy w/4 x 20 sec strides + core
Saturday 3 miles easy w/4 x 20 sec strides
Sunday Half Marathon
Hope that helps
This is REALLY helpful, thank you so much!! I will adjust for the race being on Saturday (and dial it back just a bit ) I think I will do better having an actual PLAN for the taper, with rationale behind it. Tapering makes me twitchy enough, and the sort of random ad hoc approach i’ve used in the past probably doesn’t serve me well.
I have been using the HM plan you pointed me to (on active.com) for the last 2 weeks. I am adapting a bit it since it’s a 6 week straight through plan, and I do 2wks on/1wk cutback cycles which work better for me than straight through or the regular 3on/1off cycles in most plans – in the same way as 10 day taper works better for me than 7. I think I started with some of the wk 2/3 workouts in the beginner plan. Last wk was tough, this wk was tough but I felt better, esp after long run yday.
You are just awesome to be so helpful, I really appreciate it!! I have to tell you I’m checking the site every day now to see what’s new, and think the work you all are doing is consistently high quality – useful, straight shooting, no fluff – which isn’t easy to maintain. Your responsiveness to comments, tweets and questions is impressive. Great job!
Thanks for the high praise, MJ! I am glad the sample schedule helped. You’re right, the taper is hard enough without being unsure of what you’re doing. Keep me updated on how the race goes for you!
I made a terrible tapering mistake earlier this year. I followed a generic training plan for 16 weeks – my first – getting up to 60 miles per week. When the taper began I felt like I was slacking. The plan was calling for “wimpy” runs. Two weeks out I decided to run the short 4 mile run at a pace faster than any of my previous runs. The final week had a 4×400 scheduled for Monday but without telling me the pace. I decided to go max effort. I was quite pleased with my pace but the next day I had to bale on a 2 mile easy run. The fast pace had seriously inflamed my bursa sac (i.e., Hip bursitis) five days before the marathon – stupid, stupid, stupid!
Hi Coach Jeff,
Enjoyed your article…
Question: Your sub-3:30 program on the Runkeeper app has a 2×2.5mi run two weeks before the race (i’m doing Chicago). However, in your article above you talk about a 2×3 workout and a straight 6-8mp run. I’m not seeing the latter in your Runkeeper program.
Should I just stick to what’s in the Runkeeper program for this week’s midweek runs (7mi+, 6mi, 2×2.5)? Or should I substitute the 6-8 mile run for one of these runs and increase the 2×2.5 to 2×3?
Thanks
Mike
Hello Coach Jeff. I’m freaking out here. I’m running the full rock and roll marathon in 11 days from today. I got very sick with a chest pain and bronchitis about 8 weeks ago. I did have to complete stop my training for almost 5 weeks. Now I’m back but, I had train only to mile 15 until today. I was thinking to do my last long run of at least 20 miles on Saturday before the marathon. That’s only exactly one week before the marathon. Do you think I should do that? Or I should stay with the 15 miles that I just did today? Going to the full marathon with only 15 miles my longer run, it scare me to death. I don’t know what to do. I need your help please. Thanks
Hi Trisha, if your body required that much time off, I would not recommend running the 20 miler the week before the race. We actually think a lot of people place too much emphasis on that 20 miler, and this may help you feel better https://runnersconnect.net/coach-corner/are-you-putting-too-much-emphasis-on-the-long-run-as-part-of-your-marathon-training/ I would recommend a 16-18 mile run, but make sure to keep it easy as you do not want to run your race that day. The biggest thing now is that you need to adjust your expectations, as your body was in such a bad state (and well done for listening and resting), you are going to have to start conservative, or you might not make it to the finish. Best of luck, listen to your body, and just focus on enjoying the race.
Hi coach Jeff…i am a masters runner attempting my first full in aboutv18 days from now…i found this post very helpful but am unsure as to whether it is applicable to masters runners..i hv been struggling with multiple lower leg issues esp at the lag end of training…i ran my longest run a few days ago and wd really appreciate any inputs regarding runs 2 weeks out from race day..also what kind of workouts do you recommend on non run days…shd strength training be continued….thanks