It's Taper Time
The final 3 weeks are the most important in any marathon-training program. Here's everything you need to know and do leading up to race day.
By Bob Cooper
Every good marathon-training plan should "taper" during those final 21 days. That means you run less and rest more. For some people, the idea of backing off on their training just before the big race seems counterintuitive. "So many runners train hard right up to the day of the marathon because they're desperately afraid of losing fitness if they don't," says Patti Finke, who coaches 250 marathoners a year as co-director of the Portland (Oregon) Marathon Clinic. "What they don't realize is that in those last few weeks it's the rest more than the work that makes you strong. And you don't lose fitness in 3 weeks of tapering. In fact, studies show that your aerobic capacity, the best gauge of fitness, doesn't change at all."
Research reveals a lot more than that. A review of 50 studies on tapering published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise shows that levels of muscle glycogen, enzymes, antioxidants, and hormones--all depleted by high mileage--return to optimal ranges during a taper. The muscle damage that occurs during sustained training is also repaired. And if that isn't enough, immune function and muscle strength improve, as well, which reduces the odds you'll catch a cold or get injured just before the race. And get this: The average performance improvement by the subjects who tapered in these studies was 3 percent. That works out to 5 to 10 minutes in a marathon.
The review's main conclusion: "The primary aim of the taper should be to minimize accumulated fatigue, rather than to attain additional physiological adaptations or fitness gains." In other words, it's time to chill.
So don't blow it after all those weeks of training. The following plan shows you exactly how to modify your running, thinking, and eating in those 3 crucial weeks before you toe the line. So relax. We've got you covered.
Research reveals a lot more than that. A review of 50 studies on tapering published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise shows that levels of muscle glycogen, enzymes, antioxidants, and hormones--all depleted by high mileage--return to optimal ranges during a taper. The muscle damage that occurs during sustained training is also repaired. And if that isn't enough, immune function and muscle strength improve, as well, which reduces the odds you'll catch a cold or get injured just before the race. And get this: The average performance improvement by the subjects who tapered in these studies was 3 percent. That works out to 5 to 10 minutes in a marathon.
The review's main conclusion: "The primary aim of the taper should be to minimize accumulated fatigue, rather than to attain additional physiological adaptations or fitness gains." In other words, it's time to chill.
So don't blow it after all those weeks of training. The following plan shows you exactly how to modify your running, thinking, and eating in those 3 crucial weeks before you toe the line. So relax. We've got you covered.
3 WEEKS TO GO
Week 1 of the taper begins the day after your last long run, 3 weeks before the marathon. The taper starts gradually, because this training still "counts," and a dramatic drop in workload isn't necessary yet. This week, you need to run a bit less, eat a bit more protein, troubleshoot your race plan, and choose your race-day shoes.
Training Checklist
1. Last week should have been your highest-mileage week.
2. Your weekend long run (2 weeks before the marathon) should be a 12- to 14-miler at the same pace—not faster--as the previous week's 20-miler.
3. Except for the marathon-goal-pace run, all running this week should be at a relaxed pace of 11/2 to 2 minutes slower per mile than marathon goal pace.
4. Avoid running extremely hilly courses, hill repetitions, or speed workouts. This kind of training leads to muscle-tissue damage, which you need to minimize throughout your taper.
Mental Preparation
5. "Think of all the problems that could arise and work through how you'll handle them," says Kate Hays, Ph.D., a sports psychologist, longtime runner, and director of the starting-line "psyching team" at the Toronto Marathon. "Doing this will provide solutions so that you won't panic in case one of the scenarios does occur, and it reduces your anxiety because you'll know you're ready for any situation." Mentally rehearse the following scenarios:
Week 1 of the taper begins the day after your last long run, 3 weeks before the marathon. The taper starts gradually, because this training still "counts," and a dramatic drop in workload isn't necessary yet. This week, you need to run a bit less, eat a bit more protein, troubleshoot your race plan, and choose your race-day shoes.
Training Checklist
1. Last week should have been your highest-mileage week.
2. Your weekend long run (2 weeks before the marathon) should be a 12- to 14-miler at the same pace—not faster--as the previous week's 20-miler.
3. Except for the marathon-goal-pace run, all running this week should be at a relaxed pace of 11/2 to 2 minutes slower per mile than marathon goal pace.
4. Avoid running extremely hilly courses, hill repetitions, or speed workouts. This kind of training leads to muscle-tissue damage, which you need to minimize throughout your taper.
Mental Preparation
5. "Think of all the problems that could arise and work through how you'll handle them," says Kate Hays, Ph.D., a sports psychologist, longtime runner, and director of the starting-line "psyching team" at the Toronto Marathon. "Doing this will provide solutions so that you won't panic in case one of the scenarios does occur, and it reduces your anxiety because you'll know you're ready for any situation." Mentally rehearse the following scenarios:
- It's warm, freezing, or blustery. Less-than-ideal conditions mean you have to adjust your time goals. Headwinds can slow your finish time by several minutes, and heat or cold by even more. A survey of marathon finish times suggests that 55 degrees is the ideal temperature, a temperature of 35 or 75 degrees adds 7 percent to your time, and an 85-degree day adds 10 percent.
- You start out ahead of goal pace. Slow down to goal pace as soon as you figure this out (hopefully no later than when you hit the first mile marker), because running an even pace is crucial.
- You start out slower than goal pace. Speed up, but only to goal pace, because trying to "make up for lost time" is a fool's game. You can still achieve your goal time by speeding up slightly during the second half of the race.
- You slip off goal pace midrace. This is the time to become your own cheerleader. Coax yourself back into the groove by thinking about all the training you put in and how badly you want to achieve your goal.
- Your old (knee/shin/foot) problem acts up at midrace. Decide in advance how bad it has to get before you'll drop out. A good guideline is that if the pain forces you to alter your stride, drop out so you don't develop a long-term injury.
- A side stitch strikes. As excruciating as these can be, plan on hanging in there, because most stitches vanish within a couple of miles--especially if you slow down and apply pressure to the area where you feel the stitch.
No comments:
Post a Comment