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Tapering for your race
Reduce volume while preserving rhythm and a little intensity so fatigue can fall without trying to add last-minute fitness.
A taper reduces training volume before a race so accumulated fatigue can fall while the running you have built is maintained.
The plan removes work on purpose. Feeling unusually heavy in the first taper week or restless closer to race day can be part of that transition, and one flat session does not predict the race.
Reducing volume without losing rhythm
Most of the reduction comes from easy mileage and long-run length. Run frequency stays close to normal, with at most one fewer run day, and each taper week keeps one short exposure to the pace the race needs. The long-run day stays in place at a much shorter distance.
Your coach may suggest strides after easy runs, but the plan does not add them automatically. Keep familiar year-round strength and cross-training light; this is not the time to add a new session type or make up training that did not happen earlier.
Choosing how long to taper
Taper length is one of your Plan Preferences — saved choices that shape the next build of your plan. The default depends on the distance and level:
- A beginner marathon uses three weeks; intermediate and advanced marathon plans use two.
- A half marathon uses two weeks at every level.
- A 5K or 10K uses one week, which is race week.
For a marathon, you can ask for one to four weeks. A half-marathon taper can extend to four weeks but keeps at least two, because race week is included in the taper. The 5K and 10K taper remains one week. Changing the preference rebuilds the weeks ahead around the new length.
If the available block is too short for every planned phase, the plan first gives up time spent holding peak mileage. It shortens the taper only after that, and reports both changes.
Responding to taper worry
Do not fill the new space simply because you feel good. Feeling fresher is the point, not proof that the plan has become too easy. A missed long run from earlier in the block also stays missed rather than being squeezed into the taper.
Taper heaviness is not the same as ongoing fatigue
Temporary heavy legs early in a taper are expected. If low energy, soreness or another concern has persisted beyond that normal transition, tell your coach what you are feeling and for how long instead of assuming every symptom is taper-related.
Ask your coach
“Explain my taper and what changes each week.”
“I feel heavy ten days before my race. Should I run more or change the plan?”
“Make my marathon taper three weeks and show me the rebuilt plan.”
Related
- How your plan is built — See how recent running, weekly growth, long runs, quality work and recovery are combined into the plan you review.
- Running your race week — Follow the final stretch with the race counted inside the week's running, only a small amount of other mileage, and no last-minute catching up.
- Following a training block — Understand the dated stretch of training you are following, close it when it is finished, and carry its evidence into what comes next.
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