Taper Week Race Pace

Workout - Taper Week Race Pace

• 2.0km @ 6'00''/km
• 3 lots of:
  • 1.5km @ 4'15''/km
  • 500m @ 7'30''/km
• 5min @ 10'00''/km

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Intro

This breakdown comes from The Week Before Your Marathon - A Day By Day Guide by The Running Channel. Worth watching if you haven’t. The core strategy is below. Watch the full video for the context.

Key points

• Taper strategy: drop weekly volume sharply (e.g., from around 90 km to around 15 km), but keep your legs engaged with low-intensity activity like easy cycling, swimming, or walking.
• Body awareness: rest when you’re genuinely tired, but don’t sit idle. Easy movement through the week.
• Eating for race day: stick with foods you’ve trained with, bump up carbs slightly, drink enough to keep your urine pale yellow, and skip high-fiber foods the day before.
• Race logistics and mindset: organize your gear now, lay out your race kit, and do a short activation run to settle nerves.

Workout example

Monday: easy 3-4 mile run (about 5-6 km) at a pace at least 60 seconds slower than marathon goal. Just enough to get the legs moving.

Wednesday (mid-week session):

1. 2 km easy warm-up.
2. 3 x 1.5 km at goal marathon pace (roughly 4:15 per km if you’re targeting 3:00). Wear the exact shirt, shorts, and shoes you’ll race in.
3. 500 m easy recovery (float) between efforts.

Thursday and Friday: no running. Use these days to eat extra carbs (pasta, rice, potatoes, oatmeal) and avoid fiber-heavy foods.

Saturday (night before): a very light 2-3 km jog to wake up the muscles (optional).

Closing note

Ease back, trust your training, and adjust paces in the Pacing app. You’ve done the hard work.

References

• The Week Before Your Marathon - A Day By Day Guide - YouTube (YouTube Video)