The Art of Tapering

The art of tapering

We are now less than three weeks away from the big day (Honolulu Marathon). Thousand people participated in the Mizuno Val Nolasco Half Marathon yesterday, and now the last preparations for the marathon begin.

Tapering is equally important as your long runs, and many runners fail to understand this, or do not have the patience to let the body recover.

Tapering does not mean that you completely stop training, the main ingredients in your taper period will be:

No more long runs, if you have done your 20 milers, then a 15 miler two weeks before is fine.

Lower your mileage a little bit over the next two weeks, 10-20%, while the last week, you can just do a few runs to keep your legs moving – while the last three days, a couple of 3-5 miles run is recommended.

Begin a good sleep pattern now, the hours before midnight is the best, and otherwise your usual eight hours are good, don’t sleep too much, just try to keep your sleep pattern. A day or two before the marathon where you might be anxious and cannot sleep so well, it might be okay as you will have slept well the previous two weeks.

Make sure you start hydrating yourself now, so that when you come to the start, you have had good hydration for the weeks leading up to the race.

Carbohydrates are also important in the days leading up to. Do not start eating carbohydrates like crazy now, as your body will just get used to it. The idea is to load a little bit extra on, in the days before, so that you have something extra to run on.

Getting a massage might be a good idea, but not the week before the marathon. Sometimes a tough massage can do as much “damage” to your legs as running a marathon can. Go for something light and relaxing, preferably two weeks before.

Knowing your pace is important, and during the next three weeks it is good to test out your pace in a run or two during the week. The Turkey Trot this coming Thursday is excellent to see if you can predict and hold the time you expect to run the marathon in.

The following week, a shorter run with the same pace, trying to see if you can hit your pace again would make for a good opportunity to see if you know your own body and running pace.