Today I want to talk about tapering for a big race. There are studies out there that show it can impact performance in a positive way. There is debate it seems about how to best go about tapering to achieve the most beneficial results. I don’t want to argue or make a case about either of these points, but what I do want to discuss is whether tapering is equal among all caliber of athletes and the amount of miles they run.

If I run 100 miles/week and in my taper I reduce the mileage by 25% that is of course a 25 mile reduction in mileage. If I only run 50 miles/week should I still reduce mileage by 25%? Should the taper look the same from a percentage standpoint? I am a runner that skews toward the 50 miles/week and in my experience the two runners should look at the taper in different ways.

The idea of the taper is to rest your body so it is completely recovered and at peak performance on race day. I would argue that if I am running less miles per week I need less of a taper because my body has not been taxed as much. I am not saying that a taper is not needed for a lower mileage runner but it does not need to be as extreme. Does someone that runs 50 miles/week need a 3 week taper? Has their body been that beat up that it needs 3 weeks to fully recover?

When you look at studies on tapering, at least the studies I looked at, most of the athletes seemed to be well trained and fast athletes. I would imagine these athletes were accustomed to higher mileage and probably more challenging workouts so it would make sense that tapering would help more. Their bodies were more beat up. Are there studies out there on the “weekend warriors” and what is the best taper in terms of time and mileage reduction? If there are, please send them my way,

The reason I bring this all up is that in today’s world where people are posting their workouts and training programs on social media it appears that we sometimes lose sight that how an elite trains is not the same way most of us should train. Combine that with the fact that everyone’s body responds and adapts differently, I think people would be so much better off experimenting to see what works best for them. I am astonished at the number of people that utilize a coach or training program out of a magazine blindly (if you are a new runner or doing your first race I get why you would follow the plan that was given to you) and follow it to a “t.” If you are not adapting and trying new things, you can never be sure if the way you are doing things is the best way or if you are leaving something on the table.

I have three siblings and all of us run races. We all have similarities in how our body responds but there are significant differences as well. The program I use to get maximum results will not be the same as what my brothers or sister use if they want to have their best performance on race day. Even how we race is different because we all have different strengths and weaknesses.

This post was intended to be about tapering, but it delved into something much more and I want to circle back to tapering. For me, the best way to taper is to start the week of the race and run 6 days that week. I like to do one moderate workout just to keep my legs sharp, but don’t want to tax my body and I do this probably 4 days out. I like to do nothing two days before the race and the day before I like to get 20-30 minutes in. I am not saying this is perfect and it will vary on the type of race, but through trial and error this is what I have found works best for me. We run marathons rather infrequently and because of that we often don’t want to take chances with something new or outside of what is prescribed but at the end of the day we usually need to do something different to get off the plateau.