Running/Hiking
Runners, there comes a time in your training cycle when you want to let your body recover from the hard weeks and months of work you have put in. Enter: taper. Tapering is a purposeful and useful tool for runners leading up to their race. This can be both a gift and a challenge for athletes, sometimes causing what we call the “taper tantrums”. So, how do you go about your taper? What are the benefits of a taper? What are some common mistakes in a taper? And, how do you avoid the taper tantrums?
If you want to take the guesswork out of your running training, work with us 1:1 or join one of our 5K-26.1M race plans.
Tapering is a pertinent part of training. Whether you are training for a 5K or a marathon, a taper should be included in your running program. If you look at the entirety of a running program, you have your aerobic base building period followed by capacity work and specific race training, which leads up to your peak week (highest amount of weekly mileage and longest run of the training cycle), and then comes your taper weeks right before your race week. When you develop your running program, and more specifically your taper plan, you will want to consider duration, volume, intensity, frequency, and environment.
The duration of your taper will depend on your race distance and training experience. In general, your taper will last between one to three weeks. For shorter race distances like the 5K-15K, one to two weeks may be sufficient, whereas race distances of 15K-26.1M and beyond will likely be two to three weeks. This will allow you time to properly recover from the several weeks and months of training and get you feeling prepared and ready to go for race day.
The volume of your training is what you will want to change the most during your taper. Assuming that you have spent the past weeks and months building up your running volume and time on your feet, you will reduce your training volume by 40-50% the first week and an additional 20-30% the second week during your taper period.
Even though you are reducing your volume, you will want to maintain your intensity throughout the taper. For example, if you have been doing a tempo run and/or speed workout each week, you do not want to omit those during your taper. Tapering does not mean you only do easy runs, even if two weeks of easy runs sounds lovely. Keep your tempo runs, hill workouts, and/or speed workouts in the mix at a regular frequency. Keep the intensity, reduce the volume.
Although your overall volume will decrease in a taper, aim to maintain your frequency, give or take a session. For example, if you are running five days per week, aim to maintain five days per week or reduce to four days per week as you and your coach see fit. Tapering should not mean you reduce your number of sessions to half.
In this case, let’s refer to the environment as to what type of terrain you have been running on during your training runs. Regardless of where your race is taking place, stick with what you have been training on. If you have been running on trails, stick to running on trails. If you have been running on roads, stick to running on roads. Even if you are training for a race in the mountains but you live somewhere flat, the couple weeks leading up to the race is not the time to suddenly introduce different terrain. If you have been following a proper training program, you have trained for the elevation gain or changes throughout your training cycle in whichever modality you and your coach have decided on together. Maintain the elevation changes and terrain as much as you can leading up to the race. Learn how to train for elevation changes even if you live somewhere flat by watching my YouTube video.
While studies have shown there are performance benefits to tapering, it’s only by a few percentage points. I’m not here to tell you that tapering is going to be groundbreaking for your performance. Is it likely you’ll reap the benefits by tapering? Yes, but it’s not the main purpose of why you should taper. What we teach here at Kathletics is to taper to feel recovered and get prepared, both physiologically and psychologically.
If you relate it to how deload weeks are programmed in strength training, deload weeks are set in place to allow your body time to recover from pushing hard in the gym. These typically occur every 4-8 weeks in my hybrid training programs. What many of my clients experience after deload weeks is that they feel fresh and can lift heavier than they did prior to the deload week.
You also have deload weeks within your running programs, so you can adapt to the cardiovascular and physiological changes and not get completely burnt out or run yourself into the ground and get injured. If you keep these two points in mind, it’s exactly what you’re doing in a taper week but on a potentially greater scale. You are reducing volume after your heftiest week (peak week) so you can recover and be mentally and physically prepared for race day.
Learning what works for you in your training cycle can take time and experience. This is why it can be helpful to work with a running coach. Book your FREE consult call to learn about our 1:1 coaching. Here are a few common mistakes that you can avoid:
As I mentioned above, your intensity should maintain the same throughout your taper. Your volume should be the primary variable.
As you go through your taper, slowly taper your strength training sessions, too. Depending on the race distance and your training experience, I would suggest omitting strength training sessions 5-10 days out from your race.
Although I encourage playing around with your other hobbies, I don’t recommend suddenly signing up for various fitness classes that could bring on additional soreness or unnecessary stress. Remember, exercise is still a stressor.
I can understand how it might be uncomfortable to continue eating at the volume you were during peak training, but it is important to maintain the quality and quantity to give your body time to recover.
Sleep is one of the most powerful recovery tools you have. If you have the time and availability to increase the duration, awesome, but I do not encourage you to stay up to the wee hours of the night or make drastic changes to your sleep schedule that could negatively impact your recovery.
For some people, the taper tantrums are inevitable. In my 8+ years of coaching, I have found that the taper tantrums are common in athletes of all levels from beginner to advanced. You are so used to a relatively higher training volume that there is an internal battle and resistance between taking a step back to recover and wanting to push harder or “not lose fitness”.
First things first, a couple weeks of reduced training volume will not lead to losing fitness. If you were consistent (not perfect) with your training, built enough training volume and time on your feet, trained at appropriate intensities based on your abilities, and gave yourself a sufficient amount of time to complete your training, you can go into the weeks leading up to your race with confidence. Trust that you have put in the necessary time and effort to approach your race day feeling prepared and recovered. Working with a reputable running coach throughout the training process can be helpful, as well.
Whether this is your first race or your tenth, give your family and friends a heads up that you will need some extra support leading up to your race. They will be more than happy to provide a distraction, extra love, or whatever you may need during your taper period. Your family and friends want to see you succeed, too!
For many of you, running is your go-to hobby, escape, or joy. While that is both thrilling and health promoting, you are more than running. Running is just one of the many things you do to express yourself. Take the taper week or weeks to divulge into your other hobbies. If you aren’t sure what those are, try something new and lowkey! Read a book, do a puzzle, go fishing, bake a cake, catch up with old friends, etc.
Mental training for running is for more than on the road or the trails. Mental training is an important piece of the puzzle before training, during training, during taper, during the race, and after the race. Brush up on your mental training skills by reading Mental Training for Runners by Jeff Galloway, work with a mental health professional such as a Sports Psychologist, and/or journal on your own. Having the ability and capacity to work through the ups and downs of training will set you up for success.
During your taper, it’s important to remember that less is more. This isn’t the time to try new intra-workout fuels, different sleep routines, or new training tactics. Stick with what worked for you during your training. You’ve already put in the work. Close out the process feeling strong and confident.
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