Runners working toward a half marathon and particularly a marathon or longer often hear talk about tapering. They know it means they should decrease their mileage and scale back their workouts as the race gets closer; however, many runners avoid tapering because they fear it will negatively affect their race-day performance. Even when runners do taper, many of them do not have a full understanding of why they should taper, much less how they should taper.
WHAT IS TAPERING?
In general terms, tapering is a gradual reduction in training load. It focuses on adjusting the volume and intensity of training in preparation for an upcoming race to allow the runner to peak at the right time. It is most associated with longer races, from half-marathon to ultra but can happen to a smaller degree before shorter races. Recreational runners who do taper tend to focus most on tapering before marathon distances and longer, although some taper before half-marathons as well. However, studies have shown that most (64%) recreational runners tend to either not taper or not have a disciplined approach to their taper, which can negatively affect their race day performance.
WHY TAPER?
Many runners are afraid of tapering because they think it will negatively affect their race-day performance. However, the opposite is actually true. Tapering allows the body to start to go into a recovery mode of sorts, where the decreased training load helps reduce the physical and psychological stressors it endured during many weeks of tough training. This recovery mode will allow the body to replenish your glycogen stores, revamp your immune system, and improve enzyme and hormone levels. The body has been taken to the limit during training, and the taper is designed to rebuild and re-energize it and get the athlete ready for race day.
Many studies have shown that race-day performance typically improves by about 3% when a taper is implemented. What better reason can an athlete have to taper than this? This improvement in performance is due to positive changes in the majority of body systems due to the decrease in training stress. Few fitness gains are made during this process. It is more of a way to allow the body to rest and prepare itself for optimal performance.
HOW TO TAPER
Even when runners do taper, many know very little about exactly how they should go about it. There is a fine line between tapering too little and too much, and this line can be different for each person. However, there are general guidelines that everyone can follow and then tweak based on their own experiences.
Most studies have suggested that it is optimal to maintain the training intensity during tapering (i.e. continue to run marathon pace tempo runs or appropriate speedwork), while training volume (i.e weekly and long-run mileage) is decreased significantly over the taper time and frequency (i.e. number of training sessions/week) is also usually maintained. It has also been suggested that consistent progressive tapers (i.e. where the training volume is gradually decreased by a certain percentage each week) are associated with better marathon finish-time results for recreational runners than a less disciplined taper (i.e. where volume is decreased one week but then increased the next). There are other ways to decrease the training volume but most studies seem to suggest that a progressive reduction in volume produces the best results. As far as length, multiple studies suggest 4-28 days as the optimal taper length, depending on the distance of the race. A meta-analysis found that the 2 week taper was optimal for competitive athletes before a marathon, while another study on recreational runners found a 3 week taper was optimal for this group.
While tapering is a science, it is also an art. The art lies in finding the right balance of decreasing the volume to the amount that allows the body to recover while not decreasing it too much that it goes into full-on rest mode and the benefits of the recovery are lost. Too short of a taper will not allow the body to reap the benefits of full-system replenishment, where too long or quick of a taper will lead to a de-training effect, such as when an athlete takes time off when the season is over.
There are various plans and suggestions for tapering that suggest the best percentage to decrease the overall volume and the long run volume each week. The meta-analysis mentioned above found that a reduction in volume by 41-60% was optimal for competitive runners. Again, this is a rather large range so there is definitely an art to finding the best range for each athlete. Some plans suggest fully resting 2-3 days before a marathon, while others significantly reduce mileage during race week, but suggest a very easy 2-3 miles before race day to promote better sleep and stress relief.
This is where working with a coach can be beneficial. It will allow a runner to have assistance in knowing their training plan and how their body responds to help design the best taper for the individual. That being said, there is some trial and error, even when all the research is used. If optimal results were not achieved with one design, it is beneficial to try another design for the next race.
The research is abundant on the fact that tapering is beneficial to race day performance. There are also many studies that suggest ranges of optimal taper length and the best way to progressively reduce mileage. However, there is no one formula that has been found to do this that fits every runner out there. In the end, like many aspects of running, it can be said that the science behind tapering is sound but that the art of tapering is individual to each runner.
Carrie Neiman is a coach with Team RunRun. To learn more about her or to work with her, check out her coach profile.