MARATHON TAPER TIPS - Quick and EASY TIPS to get you a PB! - Ben Parkes
Intro
This is a quick summary of MARATHON TAPER TIPS - Quick and EASY TIPS to get you a PB! from Ben Parkes. It’s a great watch — we’re breaking it down so you can try the workout today. Be sure to check out the full video for all the details.
Key Points
- Why taper? Reduce accumulated fatigue while maintaining fitness; you can’t add new fitness in the final two weeks, but you can avoid making it worse.
- Maintain intensity, drop volume. Keep your interval or hill sessions, but significantly shorten them. The goal is a sharp, quick stimulus, not a grueling workout. For ideas on how to structure these, check out our guide on Mastering Interval Training: Science-Backed Workouts and How a Smart App Can Personalize Them, and simply adapt the volume for your taper.
- Keep your usual running days to preserve routine; just run a little less each day.
- Add strides after easy runs to keep legs sharp.
- Focus on sleep, nutrition, and a light sports‑massage about a week before race day.
- Final week: drastically lower mileage, optional short race‑pace effort, and decide if you want a pre‑race run.
Workout Example
3 Weeks Out (≈10% reduction)
- Total mileage: ~90% of peak week (e.g., 45 mi if peak was 50 mi).
- Long run: 15‑18 mi (24‑29 km) easy pace, insert 3‑5 km at marathon goal pace.
- Keep any regular interval or hill session.
2 Weeks Out (≈25‑30% reduction)
- Total mileage: ~70‑75% of peak (≈37 mi for a 50 mi peak).
- Long run: 12‑14 mi easy, optional 3‑5 km at goal pace.
- Add strides (4‑6 × 100 m) after easy runs.
- One light speed session (e.g., 4 × 5 min at goal marathon pace). This session is about maintaining your connection to race pace, a concept that’s crucial whether you’re training for 26.2 miles or trying to master 5K speed.
Race Week (≈50‑60% reduction)
- Total mileage: 20‑25 mi.
- Keep frequency (run 5 days) but cut each run sharply.
- Optional Tuesday: 4‑5 min at marathon pace.
- Easy recovery runs only; no hard workouts.
- Decide if you’ll run the day before – short 2‑3 mi easy if it calms nerves.
Practical Tips
- Prioritize sleep – aim for an early bedtime on the Friday before race weekend.
- Boost immunity with Vitamin C or orange juice.
- Do a sports massage 5‑7 days before race day.
- Dress in race kit during a short run to check comfort.
- Stay hydrated and maintain a balanced diet.
Closing Note
Give Ben Parkes’ taper plan a try and tweak the paces or distances to fit your own training log in the Pacing app. A smart app is a powerful tool for dialing in your race strategy, a key component for any distance, as we explore in our guide to Mastering the 10K: Proven Training Plans, Pace Strategies, and How a Smart App Can Elevate Your Performance. Stick to the volume cuts, keep a few quality efforts, and arrive at the start line feeling fresh and ready to chase that PB. Good luck and happy racing
References
Workout - Marathon Taper Sharpener
- 10min @ 6'30''/km
- 4 lots of:
- 5min @ 5'15''/km
- 2min 30s rest
- 10min @ 6'30''/km
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