Marathon Taper: How to Taper (and Why It Matters)

You’ve completed your peak training week, logged your longest long run and now it’s time to run less, welcome to your marathon taper!

A taper is a crucial phase that lets your body repair, restore and shed fatigue, so you arrive at the start line feeling strong and ready. Many runners worry about “losing fitness” or feel restless when mileage drops, but when done right, marathon tapering can make all the difference on race day.

In this post, you’ll learn how to taper for a marathon, from managing your mindset and nutrition to adjusting training and recovery, so you can trust the process and perform your best when it matters the most!

What Is a Marathon Taper?

A marathon taper is a period of reducing your training load to allow your body to replenish, repair and recover from the stress of training and to prepare your body to race. A taper is beneficial for all race distances, from 5Ks to ultramarathons. 

A taper period typically follows peak week (your highest mileage week, often after your longest long run). It usually lasts 2–3 weeks, but can vary based on the runner.

A meta-analysis suggests that the most effective taper lasts about two weeks, during which training volume is progressively reduced by roughly 41–60% while maintaining the same intensity and frequency.

Taper example:

• Peak week= 50 miles total
• Week 1 of taper= 30-35 miles total
• Week 2 of taper= 20-25 miles total

This example is a basic marathon taper plan, but your individual marathon taper schedule should be adjusted based on mileage, goals and experience.

Why a Marathon Taper Matters

Think of your taper like recharging your battery. You’re maintaining your fitness while allowing your body to recover and recharge so you can feel and perform at your best on race day!

The goals of a marathon taper is to:

• Reduce accumulated fatigue
• Allow muscles to repair and glycogen stores to be replenish
• Improve mental freshness
• Arrive at the start line feeling strong and ready to race
  

What a Marathon Taper Is Not

A marathon taper is not the time to cram in workouts that you didn’t get to during your training cycle. It’s not the time to take on extra house projects that will require extra time on your feet. It’s not a time to start worrying about “losing fitness” either. And it’s definitely not the time to cut back significantly on your calorie or carb intake, to cut out food groups or to start a diet. 

Doing these things can actually hurt you on race day and can cause your body to not be fully recovered by the time you line up at the start. 

Mindset

Many runners experience restlessness, anxiety or start having doubts during their taper. And if that’s you, know that it’s completely normal. 

Tips to manage your mindset:

• Remind yourself that the work is done! Now is the time to trust your training and all of the hard work you put in over the last several months
• Trust your taper and follow your training plan or coach
• Look back through your training journal or app to “prove” to yourself you can do it
• Focus on mental preparation by visualizing race day success
• Distract yourself by keeping busy (without increasing the physical demands on your body), like organizing your kitchen, reading or catching up on a show or movie

Sleep

Adequate sleep is essential for recovery. Aim for at least 8 hours/night of quality sleep if you can. Avoid over-scheduling your taper weeks and remember that proper rest will set you up for a strong race day. Try to limit screen time before bed and follow a sleep/wake routine. 

Hydration

Start your taper with intentional hydration, not just the day before your race. Have a water bottle with you and keep it in your eyesight as a reminder to sip throughout the day. Start hydrating early in the day by sipping on a glass of water as you wait for your morning coffee to brew. 

During race week, continue to be consistent with your hydration and eat and drink electrolytes. But here’s the thing, some runners become too excessive with hydration race week. Not everyone needs to drink a gallon of water a day. There is such a thing as overhydrating which can backfire on race day. 

Strength Training

If you’ve been consistently strength training throughout your training cycle (and I really hope you have!), tapering applies here too. 

Early on in your taper, focus on maintaining your weights. There is no need to challenge yourself by increasing your weights. Then race week, choose light weights or skip strength training altogether. We just don’t want you to be sore on race day. 

If you haven’t been strength training, a taper is not the time to start (save that for the post-race off-season).

I typically chat with each of my run and strength clients and we come up with a plan together for their strength training during their taper. Each person’s plan looks a bit different so it’s important to figure out a good plan for YOU!

Nutrition

DO NOT significantly cut back on your calories or carbs! The whole point of tapering is to allow your body to repair, recover and replenish. Your body needs adequate nutrition in order to do that. Cutting back too much can lead to underfueling and poor race day performance. Here’s some general guidelines:

2-weeks before the race:

• Fill ½ or ⅓ of your plate with grains/starches
• Fill ¼ with protein
• Add a source of healthy fats
• Add some color (fruit or veg), but note: color shouldn’t take up half your plate, as that can lead to underfueling
  

First half of race week:

• Fill ½ your plate with grains/starches
• Fill ¼ with protein
• Fill the remaining ¼ with color
• Add a source of healthy fats
  

The 3 days leading up to your race:

• Follow your carb-loading plan

Other Training Considerations

A taper is not just about running less, it’s about being smart. If you have been doing speed workouts during your training, you’ll want to maintain some intensity to keep those legs moving and to stay sharp, but for most, it’s wise to keep workouts shorter. 

If you haven’t been doing speed work during your training, a taper is not the time to start.

Keep your easy runs truly easy and resist the urge to test race pace too often. Reminder to follow your training plan, your coach and trust the taper!

What to Do With Extra Free Time

Since you’ll be running less, you may find that you have lots of extra time and energy so first, embrace it and second, use it to set yourself up for success! 

Now is a good time to finalize your travel plans and race day logistics. Review your race day plan (fueling, hydration, outfit, pacing plan and racing mental strategies). Prep all of your race day gear and nutrition. Get all of your fuel together and if you need to, make sure to restock if you’re running low. 

Summary

A marathon taper is more than just running less, it’s your opportunity to recover, rebuild and arrive at the start line with fresh legs, ready to perform your best. Trust the process: follow your plan or coach, fuel your body properly, stay hydrated and focus on rest and mental preparation.

By giving yourself this intentional time to recharge, you’re setting yourself up to turn all the hard work of training into a strong, confident race day performance. Embrace the taper and trust your training, your body and mind will thank you when the starting gun goes off!

Looking for personalized nutrition and training support from a running dietitian to help you tackle your performance and fueling goals? Check out my 1:1 Nutrition Coaching Program and apply here!