The Perfect Taper?
There are now less than 2 weeks to go before my target race - the Denver Marathon’s Half-Marathon. It’s time for tapering.
So, how am I tapering? My schedule calls for about 17 miles this week, down from a high of about 25. There are 3 quality workouts (as per normal under the FIRST program) - a tempo run, an interval workout, and a ‘long run’ - although this week’s long run is fairly short at only 8 miles. Next weeks workout schedule is even lighter - an interval workout of only 6 x 400 and an easy 3 mile run - then the race on Sunday.
This schedule seems a little light to me, but it seems to be pretty much in line with the recommendations outlined in this recent article in Runner’s World. It’s suggested there that you should reduce your mileage during your taper about 10-40% depending on the race length and your fatigue level, but that you should still get in some quality work. So, since I’ve been feeling fairly tired lately, my schedule is seems about right.
How about you? How are you tapering for your fall marathon or half-marathon?
If you’d like some more recommendations about tapering for your next race, check out the following:
- Tapering for Optimal Racing Performance
- The Art and Science of Tapering
- Tapering for Athletes and Ordinary Exercisers
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
October 21st, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Wow, this is the second most relevant result that I have seen on Blog Rush yet! (The first was when it returned the same article that it appeared next to - gotta admit, it was relevant…)
I wrote an article this evening about my taper for next week’s marathon. 10.5 miles on some trails, followed by about 6 miles of hiking while I marked the trails for a race that I unfortunately can’t run next weekend, and then 3 or 4 hours of raking leaves. It was a full day; I should sleep well in a few minutes.
I hope that you are well rested for your race. I’d be careful that you don’t cut too much from your weekly workload in your taper, especially a few weeks out. Cutting too much can throw your immune system out of whack and make it easier for you to catch a cold before race day, which is never fun.
Not that I suggest that you follow my lead; I probably should have taken it a bit easier this weekend. It’s the happy medium that people never seem to actually find…
October 21st, 2007 at 5:24 pm
I think my taper would have worked out fairly well, but a family emergency resulted in me needing to be out of town and missing the race. Now my sights are set on training well for a spring half-marathon and a fall marathon.