The Tapering before the half marathon is an important part of your competition preparation – regardless of whether you are preparing for your personal best or your first half marathon. But how exactly does tapering work and why is it so important? In this article you will learn:
What is tapering and why is it so important before the half marathon?
Behind the Tapering This is a targeted reduction in the amount of training before an important competition or event in running. “Tapering” comes from English and means something like “reduction” or “decrease”.
With this definition, you can quickly get an idea of what tapering before a half marathon means.
It’s about reduced training volumes in the final phase of preparation for your competition.
This final phase is where you recover from the stress of your half marathon training so you can perform at your best on race day.
Maybe you’re already familiar with the effect of tapering. For example, if you’ve ever taken a week or two off from exercise while on vacation and suddenly felt incredibly refreshed and fit afterwards.
That’s exactly what we want to achieve with tapering, but we’re taking a more strategic approach so that you can really reach your best form on competition day.
Preparing for a race like a half marathon puts a lot of strain on your body. If you’ve dedicated a 12- to 16-week training block to improving your performance, you may always be a little exhausted. After a long run or a tough interval training session, for example, you may even notice that you’re less efficient at first and it takes a few days to recover. But after such a long period of intensive training, you may not recover completely, but the exhaustion builds up and you need a longer phase to give your body time to adapt.
The principle behind this is called cumulative supercompensation.
What is this supercompensation everyone is talking about?
Supercompensation is one of the most important foundations for successful training. Supercompensation is about alternating between exertion and recovery. If you choose the right break between one exertion and the next, you will increase your performance. If you set the next training stimulus too early or too late, or if the training stimuli don’t match at all, nothing will change.
But supercompensation doesn’t just work from session to session, but over weeks and months! And we make use of this when tapering before the half marathon.
During intensive preparation for a competition, you probably won’t always recover 100%. You may be constantly a little bit overloaded. Some runners notice this, for example, through heavier legs, sore muscles or greater fatigue.
This means that you are not at your best in the middle of training, but only when your body has completed the adaptations.
This means that we now owe our bodies the regeneration that was neglected during the preparation period. Because: we can save the regeneration in moderation. But in order to be in the best shape for the half marathon, you now have to reduce your workload during the tapering period.
This is the only way you can achieve your true best performance on the big day.
How does tapering work before the half marathon?
Tapering before the half marathon is not particularly complicated.
If you follow my training plan for your first half marathon, you won’t have to worry much about tapering. I’ve already reduced the volume and adjusted the intensity specifically for you.
But if you’re planning your own half marathon, there are a few things you need to keep in mind in the last two weeks.
When does the tapering take place before the half marathon?
Tapering begins 8-14 days before the half marathon. The exact duration of the tapering is not fixed and varies from individual to individual. Some runners prefer a longer recovery phase and do not feel fully recovered after seven days. Others only need a week to perform at their best on the day of the race.
If you have never done a tapering before a half marathon, I recommend a period of at least 10-14 days. This period is safe so that you don’t lose any fitness and at the same time have enough time to adapt.
How to tape before the half marathon
Tapering before the half marathon does not mean that you do not train at all for the last two weeks. It is about a targeted reduction in the amount of training you do.
It is important that you still train in more intense training zones to maintain your race pace and ability to run fast.
Here’s how to do it:
10-14 days before the event
- reduce your training volume by 20-30%
- Integrate 1-2x your competition pace into training
- reduce your strength training to two hard sets per exercise
8 days before the competition
- Run your last long run one week before the competition – this should be between 15 and 19 kilometers and be in the basic endurance range
- From then on, reduce your training volume by 50%
- skip strength training completely or train only the upper body
- Prioritize your sleep, your recovery and reduce stressors in your everyday life
2-3 days before the half marathon
- plan your last run 2-3 days before the half marathon so that you have at least 1-2 complete rest days before the competition
- work here with a few increases or a short sequence at competition pace
- Prioritize your sleep, your recovery and reduce stressors in your everyday life
- eat lots of carbohydrates and protein
- reduce the amount of fiber and fat in your diet
- no experiments!
Less is more
One experience I would like to share with you from over ten years as a running coach is: less is more.
In the last two weeks it is no longer possible to make up for any training deficits.
The biggest mistake ambitious runners make is to increase and intensify their training in the last two weeks. This will only weaken you further and will not lead to any further improvement in performance.
Tapering before the half marathon is the best thing you can do at this point!
So: Have courage. Have faith. Your body will take care of it. Feel it and listen to what you need in the last two weeks before the competition. I definitely don’t recommend giving up running completely, but finding your way. If it’s your first competition, stick to my plan. If you’re already an “old hand”, then trust yourself.
