Tapering is the strategic deload phase in the 1-3 weeks before a race, where training volume is progressively reduced while maintaining a minimal dose of intensity, to allow the body to repair itself, maximize energy stores, and reach peak fitness (supercompensation).
- Tapering isn’t rest, but a scientific reduction in training load to maximize performance.
- The goal is to reduce the fatigue accumulated over months of training while maintaining the peak fitness you’ve achieved.
- How to do it: You drastically reduce the volume (total mileage), but maintain a small dose of intensity (short bursts at race pace or faster) to keep the body from “falling asleep.”
- A typical taper for a marathon or half marathon lasts 2-3 weeks, with a mileage reduction of 20-30% in the first week and 50-60% in race week.
- The “taper madness” (feeling sluggish, sore, or panicking about losing fitness) is a normal psychophysical reaction: trust the process.
Months of Hard Work Come Down to This: The Art of Arriving at the Start Stronger Than Ever (by Training Less)
For months, you’ve followed a plan. You’ve logged miles, you’ve gritted your teeth during intervals, you’ve sacrificed hours of sleep for your Sunday long run. You have built, one step at a time, your best form. Now the race is approaching and, instinctively, the temptation is to do even more, to add one last grueling workout to feel “truly” ready.
Instead, the most important race now isn’t the one you have to run, but the one you have to not run. Welcome to the most counter-intuitive, psychologically challenging, and scientifically crucial phase of your entire preparation: the pre-race taper.
It’s the art of training less to go faster. It sounds like a paradox, but it’s the science that will allow you to arrive at the starting line not just trained, but also fresh, full of energy, and ready to reap the rewards of all your hard work.
The Science of Tapering: Why Less Is (Definitely) More
During your training, your body is in a perpetual struggle between two opposing forces: fitness (which is rising) and fatigue (which rises with it). The more you train, the stronger you get, but you also accumulate physical and mental stress that prevents you from expressing your full potential.
The goal of the taper is simple: to make the fatigue curve drop dramatically while keeping the fitness curve almost intact. By reducing your training volume, you finally give your body the time and resources to:
- Fully repair the accumulated microscopic muscle damage.
- Completely top off your muscle glycogen stores.
- Rebalance your hormonal and nervous systems, breaking out of a state of chronic stress.
This process leads to what is called supercompensation: your body doesn’t just return to its baseline level; it rebuilds itself to a slightly higher level. This way, you’ll arrive at the start stronger, more rested, and more efficient than you have been throughout your entire training block.
How to Structure Your Taper: A Practical Guide
Tapering isn’t just “doing less randomly.” It’s a precise protocol that balances volume reduction with intensity maintenance.
Reducing Volume: How Much and When
Volume (total mileage) is the main culprit for accumulated fatigue, and it’s the first thing to cut. The length of the taper depends on the race distance.
- For a 10k: A one-week taper is sufficient, reducing volume by 40-50% compared to a normal week.
- For a half marathon: 10-14 days are recommended.
- For a marathon: The taper typically lasts 2 or 3 weeks.
Practical example of a 2-week taper (for a half/full marathon):
- Week -2: Reduce your weekly mileage by about 20-30% compared to your peak week. If your longest week was 80 km, you’ll run about 60-65 km.
- Week -1 (race week): Cut back drastically, running about 50-60% of your peak mileage. If your peak was 80 km, this week you won’t run more than 35-40 km, spread over 2-3 very short outings (plus the race).
The Importance of Intensity: Pace Reminders
Here’s the mistake many people make: reducing volume and only doing very slow runs. This “puts the nervous system to sleep” and makes you feel sluggish and unresponsive on race day. During the taper, volume drops, but intensity must remain, albeit in minimal doses.
- What to do: Include “pace reminders” in your short runs. This means running for very short stretches at your race pace or slightly faster.
- Example: During a 30-minute jog in race week, after your warm-up, run 3-4 repetitions of 400 meters at your 10k pace, or 2×1 km at your half marathon pace, with ample recovery.
- Why it works: These brief bursts of speed keep the engine “warm” and the neuromuscular system responsive, without creating new fatigue.
How to Manage Your Head During the Taper (the “Taper Madness”)
The hardest part of the taper isn’t physical; it’s mental. As fatigue fades, your body feels strange, and your mind starts playing tricks on you. This is “taper madness.” The symptoms are classic:
- You feel sluggish, heavy, and out of shape. This is normal: your body is used to being constantly under stress. Now that it’s not, it’s sending you confusing signals.
- You feel imaginary pains. A little twinge in your knee becomes a potential catastrophic injury. That’s your anxiety talking.
- You panic that you haven’t trained enough. The reduction in mileage makes you feel like you’re losing all the fitness you’ve built up.
How to survive? With one word: trust. Trust the process. Trust the months of training you have behind you. Fitness doesn’t vanish in two weeks. What you’re feeling is your body finally healing. Use the extra time and mental energy to focus on the practical aspects: study the course, prepare your gear, plan your breakfast and race strategy.
A well-executed taper is the final, fundamental act of an intelligent athlete. It’s the conscious choice to take one step back so you can take two steps forward, right when it matters most. Have faith, rest actively, and get ready to fly.