Tapering Before a Race and How to NOT Go Crazy

There is an art and a science to the taper period. It’s also the toughest part of the training plan for a lot of people (yours truly, included).

As I get older, I have to admit, the taper period is something I look forward to a bit more. A chance to take a breath and not push myself to the limits every day? Yes, please! I still struggle with the decreased movement, and have a hard time finding that balance of exercise to rest, because it is the latter that we need more of to get us ready for race day.

I could visually represent this training year so far as a set of ocean waves as they come toward shore. Working up to a 5k in March, I added a weekly speed workout, and in the days leading up to that “benchmark setting” run, I relaxed a bit. Recovery for a few days, then build back up until I come up on the BolderBoulder 10k — I had a week of taper before and a week of recovery after. Then build up again until the Prairie Dog half, doing more hills than I ever really care to do ever again…like ever. I had 10 days of taper before this race, and about 7 days of rest and easy work before my next race at the Arvada 10 Miler. You kind of see what I mean…

I’m stunned sometimes by the runners I see who have a race “tomorrow” and are hitting the weight machines the day before as if they are in some kind of body building contest. I’m not saying that weight training is bad, in fact, it does a lot of great things for us. However, if we are training for an endurance event, a heavy weight session will compromise any goals we have for race day.

In the two weeks leading up to the Dopey Challenge in 2017, I dropped all resistance training — those things that made me a strong, efficient runner — by Coach MK’s orders. I also dropped all afternoon/evening walks that were crucial to my training, again, according to Coach MK’s design. I did only about 25 miles total in the 2 weeks prior to our departure for Walt Disney World.

So what happened? I arrived in Orlando with fresh legs, ready to take on 48.6 (but really 35.5) miles of races, plus hours in the parks with my family. Six hours on my feet during the marathon did not kill me, and although I was out there for a while, I felt fresh most of that time. Is that just a coincidence from my taper routine? Yeah, no. No coincidence.

If you struggle to get through taper, and you are mentally going nuts and freaking out because you don’t feel like you’ve “done enough,” trust me. You have. If you stuck to the majority of your training, stayed consistent, and followed your plan, trust what got you this far. Let yourself relax. The hay is in the barn. The cake is in the oven. Let your body gel with all the work you’ve done. Don’t add anything else in that last few weeks, and by race day, your legs will be fresh and ready. Be patient with taper (and ask your loved ones to be patient with you). You might get a little snippy, but that is normal. Just wait until race day.

I would love to hear your taper stories! Please leave your thoughts and comments, and thanks for stopping by.