The last weeks before a race are for many runners the hardest of the entire schedule. Not physically, but mentally. You reduce volume, you train less, and you feel strange: heavy, slow, uncertain. You wonder if you have done enough.
That feeling is precisely the proof that your taper is working.
What is tapering?
Tapering is the conscious reduction of training volume in the weeks before a competition, so that your body can fully recover from the training work that preceded it. The goal: to be at the start line as fresh, powerful and charged as possible on race day.
The principle is based on a simple physiological fact: most of your training adaptation takes place during recovery, not during the training itself. Anyone who has trained hard in the months before a competition has stimulated their body to become stronger. This improvement is only fully realized when the body is given the opportunity to recover.
A well-executed taper provides a performance gain of two à three percent. In a half marathon of 1h45, that is more than two minutes, without any extra training.
When do you start tapering?
The taper duration depends on the race distance:
| Distance | Taper duration |
|---|---|
| 5 km | 5 à 7 days |
| 10 km | 7 à 10 days |
| Half marathon | 10 à 14 days |
| Marathon | 2 à 3 weeks |
The longer the match, the deeper the fatigue you have built up in the preparation and the more time your body needs to process it.
How do you taper correctly?
Volume drops, intensity remains
This is the most common mistake when tapering: runners reduce both volume and intensity, and completely relax. The result: they feel stiff and sluggish on match day.
The right approach: reduce the volume significantly (40 à 60%), but maintain the intensity. Shorter intervals, short stretches at race pace, strides. Your body maintains neuromuscular sharpness while recovering from cumulative fatigue.
Week 3 before the race (marathon) or week 2 (half marathon): Volume drops by 20 à 30%. Normal training structure, but slightly shorter sessions. One interval training still available, but shorter than normal.
Week 2 before the race (marathon) or week 1 (half marathon): Volume drops by 40à 50%. No more long runs. Ééa light quality training (strides, short tempo pieces). The rest are short, leisurely runs.
Last week: Volume drops by 60à 70% compared to your peak week. Two à three short, easy runs of 20 à 30 minutes. The day before the competition: 10 à 15 minutes of gentle walking with three à four strides. Not more.
Tapering blues: why you feel bad during the taper
Almost every serious runner experiences it: during the taper weeks you feel worse than ever. Heavy, slow, stiff. Your performance in training seems to deteriorate. You start to doubt whether you have done enough.
This phenomenon has a name: tapering blues or taper madness. It is so universal that it is part of the expected taper pattern.
What happens physiologically: your body actively recovers from months of training load. Muscle tissue is repaired. Glycogen stores are replenished. Normalize hormone levels. All these processes have temporary side effects: a feeling of fullness in the legs, some weight gain due to glycogen accumulation (each gram of glycogen binds three grams of water), sleep problems due to reduced fatigue.
The good news: these signals disappear on match day. Almost every runner who has done the taper correctly feels better at the start than the weeks before.
What you should not do during the taper
Make-up training: you will no longer make up for missed training during the taper weeks. Extra kilometers or an extra interval in week two before the race no longer provide performance gains, but they do cost recovery capacity.
Try new shoes or clothing: don't wear anything you haven't tested in training on race day. This also applies to shoes. A new shoe in the taper weeks "breaking in" is a risk.
Many changes in nutrition: the taper weeks are not the time to experiment. Eat familiarly, slightly more carbohydrates in the last two à three days (see carb-loading), but no drastic changes.
Comparisons with other runners: the taper is individual. Anyone who sees his training buddy continuing to train while you taper off feels the pressure. Stick to your own plan.
Sleep during the taper
Sleep is the most valuable recovery strategy during the taper weeks. Aim for eight à nine hours a night. The night before the race is ironically the least critical: most runners sleep poorly the night before a race due to nerves, and that is not a problem. Sleep in the week before the match counts more.
Frequently asked questions
What if I feel really heavy and bad during the taper?
Can I still do strength training during the taper?
I have an injury during the taper. What now?
In summary
Tapering is not a rest period, it is an active recovery strategy. Reduce your volume significantly but maintain short, intensive stimuli. Trust the uncomfortable feeling that comes with the taper. And know that almost every runner who has tapered well on race day performs better than he thought possible during the taper weeks.
→ What do you eat in the days before the competition? Read the carb-loading guide.
→ Everything about the race day itself: raceday.
Bart Vandenbussche is passionate about sport and never shies away from a sporting challenge. He has run several marathons (including sub-3h), is an Iron+Ultra Viking, and currently has the Hyrox bug.
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