The marathon taper can feel like a tricky balance. Do too little, and you may feel stale and unfit. Do too much, and you may be overly fatigued come race day. In this article, I’ll draw from both my years of coaching experience and the most recent research to answer the questions: How long should you taper for a marathon – and what exactly should that taper look like?
The Science of the Marathon Taper
Based on research, a taper provides an improvement of 2-5%. A taper will give you the same effect as a pair of carbon plated running shoes!
A taper is a deliberate, gradual, and progressive reduction in training load (both volume and intensity). You do not want to sharply remove training load – such an approach could leave you feeling physiologically unstable and mentally off.
Reducing your training load before a race induces physiological changes, including:
- Increased muscle glycogen
- Reduced risk of overtraining right before a race
- Minimized stress on your mind and body
- Improved muscle recovery and reduced muscle fatigue
- Improved the function of fast-twitch muscle fibers
A taper results in improved time trial performance and longer time to exhaustion, according to a 2023 meta-analysis. If you want to race your fastest marathon, or feel good in your first marathon, you want to taper appropriately before the race.
How Long Should You Taper for Before a Marathon?
Too much of a taper causes a detraining effect, which is the opposite of what you want before your marathon. However, too short of a taper means you may not feel fully fresh on race day.
Most marathoners respond well to a two- to three-week taper. Whether you taper for two weeks or three depends on your training response, how long and hard your training block was, and other variables.
Two-Week Marathon Taper Schedule
A 2007 meta-analysis (high-quality of evidence) published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise examined multiple studies on tapering for swimmers, runners, and cyclists. For all three disciplines, a two-week taper produced the maximum desired response; a three-week taper saw a reduction in dose-response (meaning it was effective but less effective than a two-week taper).
Why two weeks? The answer is complex (because the mechanism of why a taper works isn’t fully understood). The belief is that a two-week taper allows ample recovery and increases in muscle glycogen without losing aerobic or neuromuscular fitness (both of which render an athlete feeling “flat” on race day).
If you typically did three week tapers but often felt “flat” on race day, you may want to try a two week marathon taper in the future.
In a two-week taper, mileage is 40-60% lower than it was at the peak of training. A marathon taper is a progressive taper, which means volume is gradually reduced. This typically looks like a 60% reduction two weeks out and then a 40-50% reduction (not counting the marathon itself) the week of the race.
This reduction comes from shortening runs rather than altering the frequency of runs. If you run five days per week, keep running five days per week through race week. The above-cited 2023 meta-analysis demonstrates that reducing the frequency of runs did not improve performance as much as reducing the duration of the runs. Fewer runs per week can lead to dampened neuromuscular fitness and a general sense of feeling uncoordinated on race day.
A two-week taper will look like:
- Peak week (15-21 days before race): the longest run, hardest workout, and highest mileage of training
- 8-14 days before: 60-65% of peak volume, with intensity reduced
- Race week: 40-50% of peak volume, with a small race week workout
Related: The Essentials of Peak Week For Marathon Training
Three Week Marathon Taper Schedule
While some runners respond best to a two week taper, others will race their fastest on a three-week marathon taper. However, do not think that a three week taper means you stop training almost a month before a race. A three week taper for a marathon is a gradual and deliberate reduction in volume, similar to a two week taper.
A 2021 study of 158,000 marathoners found that a disciplined three-week taper resulted in a better performance than a short taper. The difference was not significant compared to a two week taper (if both tapers were disciplined). In coaching, I have seen many runners positively respond to a gradual three-week taper.
A three-week taper will look like:
- Peak week (22-28 days before race): the longest run and highest mileage of training
- 15-21 days before: 80-90% of peak volume, with the biggest workout of training
- 8-14 days before: 60-65% of peak volume, with intensity slightly reduced
- Race week: 40-50% of peak volume, with a small race week workout
Maintain Intensity During Your Marathon Taper
Research shows that you want to keep doing race pace workouts during your taper. If you remove hard workouts all together for two to three weeks before a race, you risk dampening training adaptations such as blood volume and buffering capacity.
That does not mean you will be hammering big tough workouts one week before your marathon. The time spent at intensity will scale down leading up to the marathon.
You also don’t want to add workouts. If you did one hard workout per week in marathon training, continue to do one hard workout per week in the taper.
Sample marathon taper workouts:
- T-3 weeks: 10-12 miles at marathon pace
- T-2 weeks: 2 x 3 miles at marathon pace (3-5 min jog in between)
- Race week: 3 miles at marathon pace
Should You Strength Train during a Taper?
Lifting weights does improve running performance. However, the acute response to lifting weights is muscle breakdown. That breakdown results in temporarily reduced contraction power and a shorter time to fatigue – opposite of your goals during taper.
For that reason, you do not want to do resistance training within about 7-10 of your marathon. You may opt to stop lifting weights earlier during your marathon taper.
Research is limited on this topic for the marathon. A 2020 case report demonstrated that the neuromuscular benefits of resistance and plyometric training were maintained after four weeks of cessation. Some of the participants in this study experienced even more improvements in time trial performance after stopping resistance training for 4 weeks.
If you opt to continue lifting weights in the taper, try reducing the volume of lifting sessions to reduce muscle breakdown and fatigue. For example, if you typically lift three sets, drop down to two sets.
Race Week Tips
If you have been doing strides or short 20-30 second strides in your runs, do not stop now. According to renowned coach Steve Magness, you want to optimize your muscle tension during race week. Strides will maintain that desirable “pop” in the legs but are too short to tax your anaerobic system.
If you typically run the day before your long run, you may want to do a shakeout run the day before the race. A shakeout run is very short – only about 10-15 minutes in duration. You want to keep it short so that you barely use any of your precious fuel sources.
Finally, do not forget to carb load! A carb load allows you to maximize your body’s primed ability for glycogen storage in the taper.
What If the Taper Doesn’t Work?
If you still feel fatigued and think you need more rest before race day, you may have been overtrained. Overtraining can occur from doing too much in the three weeks out from a race. However, it is more likely to occur from weeks of too much volume and/or too much intensity throughout the whole training cycle.
Want more marathon training tips? Listen to the Tread Lightly Podcast!
