Tapering for Race Day

What does tapering mean in a training plan?

You may have noticed that approx 2/3 weeks before your race there is a decrease in your weekly mileage on your training plan. This is known as tapering.

By reducing your weekly miles and your long runs before a race you allow the body to rest and rectify all the accumulated wear and tear of all the past weeks training.

How do you taper?

Keep off your feet

Rest & Recover

Embrace the free time

Optimize recovery strategies with a nutritious diet and hydration.

Eliminate muscle tightness with stretching and/or massage.

How do you taper?

Keep away from GERMS! Your immune system may be compromised with a drop in high mileage making you more susceptible to picking up nasty bugs.

Remember how we stayed safe during COVID? Practice the same hand washing regimes.

How do you taper

The last few months have been hard work, you have shown dedication, grit, and determination; try not to throw it all away by using this free time to do all the jobs you may have neglected whilst training,

Learning how to taper properly adds another important skill to your ever increasing arsenal of running competencies.

Tapering in your training cycle is critical

Research has found improvements in performance of up to 3% in runners who taper their training before race day! So, when you consider that one training session will give you less than a 1% improvement in fitness, it’s wise to err on the side of tapering too much rather than not enough.