The taper feels wrong—less running when race day is coming? Here's how to reduce volume while staying sharp.
By Alex · 6 min read
The taper feels wrong. You'll feel restless, anxious, and convinced you're losing fitness.
You're not.
Before BMO Vancouver, I tapered for two weeks. Every instinct told me to do more. But by race day, the work was done. The hay was in the barn. I trusted the process—and ran 55 minutes faster than my first attempt.
A taper is a planned reduction in training volume before a goal race. The purpose:
Research shows proper tapering improves performance by 2-3%. That's 2-4 minutes in a half marathon.
During heavy training, you accumulate:
Your body is fit but tired. The taper allows fitness to remain while fatigue dissipates.
Key insight: Fitness decays slowly (weeks), fatigue dissipates quickly (days). This asymmetry is why tapers work.
For a half marathon, most runners benefit from 10-14 days:
For a marathon, extend to 2-3 weeks.
The golden rules:
2 Weeks Out (70-80% volume):
Race Week (40-50% volume):
This is crucial: don't slow everything down.
Keep doing:
Why it matters:
Every runner experiences this:
This is normal. The taper crazies mean you care about the race and you're rested enough to have energy.
Zero running leaves you feeling flat. Keep moving.
The taper isn't for breakthrough workouts. No PRs in training.
New shoes, new food, new pre-race routine = disaster. I tested everything in training—even my fuel plan.
Visualize the race. Review your pacing plan. Know your fueling strategy from the Fuel Planner.
The taper is not where you build fitness—it's where you let it emerge.
Before my 2:06, I felt restless and undertrained. But I trusted 24 weeks of consistent work. I trusted the process.
You've done the work. Now rest, recover, and race.
Check your goal paces one more time with our Pace Calculator, review your race course on Elevation Finder, and finalize your Fuel Plan.
See you at the finish line.
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