Suggest

How to taper for a marathon

Running / Popular

Cut volume without losing fitness in the final weeks.

What coaches agree on

  • Taper for about two to three weeks, cutting your mileage a little more each week instead of dropping it all at once.
  • Hold onto some speed and quality sessions through the taper, just trimmed down in length or reps as your mileage drops.
Show more
  • Expect some restlessness, odd aches, or changes in sleep, mood, and appetite during the taper - it's a normal, temporary reaction to the sudden drop in training load.

Common mistakes

  • Squeezing in extra hard workouts or high mileage in the final 10 to 14 days out of fear of losing fitness - fitness gains take over a week to show up, so it doesn't help by race day and mostly adds injury and illness risk.
  • Trying new shoes, gels, foods, or workouts for the first time during taper or race week instead of sticking with what's already tested.
  • Not scaling back food intake as training volume drops, leaving some runners heavier and sluggish by race day.