Tapering before a race...? (Read 1437 times)

How do you all do it? I have that 10k coming up at the end of the month and I'm wanting some recommendations as to how I might want to taper before that. Keep in mind that I'm not really "racing" for this run. I am still really looking ahead at the 10 mi. race in mid Sept. and the half-marathon in late Oct., plus I will likely be losing almost a week of training in early Aug. as I will be spending a few days in LA visiting with friends. k

Yeah, I didn't think I needed to do much tapering, either...but DH is convinced that I should. I think he's just a wuss, LOL! I may cut back a bit, though. I was planning to do 2 90 minute runs 5 and 3 days before the race, but maybe I will cut them back to more like 2 60 minute runs or maybe a 90 and a couple of 30s... k

I think you'd be wise to cut those back to 30s. I know you're looking forward to the 10mi in Sept, but that's still a ways off and you don't want to push too hard through this week only to get injured the week AFTER this 10K.. that would be more likely to have an effect on your Sept. race.

Heh, I'm not too worried about getting injured the week after my race--I'll be spending most of it in LA livin' it up (and likely not getting more than 1-2 easy runs in along the Strand)! But I think I may cut back the week before, like you're recommending. Maybe I just won't increase my miles the 10% from the previous week. I'm still planning on a solid 2 days of rest before the race, too. k

Your secret's safe with me... k

Sssshh, don't tell anyone. It's our little secret.

No problem. I can keep a secret. It's the people I tell that can't...

How you taper depends on your body and your philosophy. If you recover well, then you should have a shorter taper. For example, the standard taper period for a marathon is 3 weeks these days. Runners would peak (do the longest run in the training schedule right before taper starts), and then gradually reduce their weekly mileage during this time. I find that three weeks is too long for me, and so I would taper for only two weeks. Tapering doesn't mean no running. I would not go 3-4 days with no running right before the race. That's where the philosophy part comes in. When you're training, you're running a lot more miles per week than during your taper period, while at the same time run more days per week than rest. You should be able to run your goal race without needing a taper period, but at your training pace. To get to your race pace, you do a taper. The reduced mileage will help your body recover and heal. Resting too many days in a row before the race might make you stiff. I usually take the day before the marathon off, but run every other day leading up to that. It keeps my muscles loose, as well as relaxes my nerves. I would do something similar if my goal race is a 10 miler or an HM. I would take the day before off, and run a couple of miles two days before. Just go nice and slow and enjoy the run. That's the only run when I'm as fresh and healthy as I'll ever get during training, and so it's always my favorite run. During the taper period, you can bring your weekly mileage down to about half of what you usually do a week by reducing the number of days you run and the distance per run. Of course, everyone does tapering different, and I would love to read about how others do their tapers.

I generally only do a real taper for a long (HM or longer) goal race, which might mean I actually taper for 2 races a year, tho I might run 10-12 races in a good year. I generally do 2 "big workouts" per week --these are also my longest runs of the week. So a 5k-10k race, plus warmup and cooldown, would just replace one of these workouts. If it's a Saturday race, I would just turn my Sunday long run into an easy paced long run--long runs for me are generally not at an easy pace. If the weekend race was on a Sunday (normal long run day), I would just do 90+ minutes worth of running including warmup, race and cooldown.