Let your peak fitness emerge on race day by tapering right.

This post was written by Coach Chris Knighton.

You have spent months building your aerobic fitness, developing your speed, extending your long runs, and preparing for the specific demands of the marathon.

Now comes one of the hardest parts of marathon training:

Doing less.

The final weeks before your marathon are not the time to squeeze in more fitness. They are the time to reduce the fatigue created by training while maintaining the fitness, rhythm, and confidence you have worked so hard to build.

This is the marathon taper.

Quick Answer: How Should You Taper for a Marathon?

For most marathoners, tapering means gradually reducing running volume over approximately two to three weeks before race day while maintaining some normal running frequency and small amounts of faster running.

Your long runs become shorter, your total mileage decreases, and demanding workouts are reduced. But you do not need to stop running or eliminate every touch of marathon pace.

The goal is simple: reduce fatigue without losing your sense of rhythm.

The exact taper should depend on your normal mileage, training history, accumulated fatigue, experience, and how you personally respond to reduced training.

If you want your marathon training and taper individualized to your fitness and goals, learn more about my 1:1 online running coaching.

Watch: The Marathon Taper Explained

Where the Taper Fits Into Marathon Training

The taper is the fourth phase in my Six Phases of Marathon Training:

1. Base Building
2. Speed Development
3. Race-Specific Quality
4. Tapering for Peak Performance
5. Race-Day Performance
6. Post-Race Recovery

The previous Race-Specific Quality Phase contains some of the biggest and most demanding training in the marathon cycle.

Once that work is complete, continuing to pile on more training can become counterproductive.

You have built the fitness. Now you need to arrive at the starting line fresh enough to use it.

What Is a Marathon Taper?

A marathon taper is a planned reduction in training load before race day.

The biggest change is usually a reduction in training volume—how much you run.

You may continue running on many of your usual days and still include small amounts of marathon pace or faster running, but the total amount of work becomes progressively smaller.

Tapering is not the same as suddenly stopping training.

It is a controlled transition from your heaviest marathon training toward race-day readiness.

Why Taper Before a Marathon?

Good marathon training creates two things at the same time:

• Fitness
• Fatigue

Throughout a challenging training cycle, workouts, long runs, mileage, strength work, work stress, family responsibilities, and everyday life all contribute to the fatigue you carry.

I often describe this as cumulative fatigue.

You may be extremely fit during your heaviest training weeks without actually feeling your best because that fitness is hidden beneath accumulated fatigue.

The taper changes that balance.

By reducing training volume, you give your body more opportunity to recover while continuing to run enough to stay engaged and comfortable.

The goal is not to create a huge amount of new fitness during the taper. The goal is to let the fitness you already built emerge.

How Long Should You Taper Before a Marathon?

For most marathoners, a taper of approximately two to three weeks is a useful starting point.

That does not mean every athlete should follow the exact same schedule.

The optimal taper is learned partly through experience.

Some runners carry substantial fatigue and respond well to a longer, more gradual reduction in training. Others recover quickly and begin to feel flat or restless when training is reduced too aggressively for too long.

Your ideal taper may depend on:

• Your normal weekly mileage
• The difficulty of your peak training
• Your marathon experience
• Your age and recovery needs
• Your injury history
• How fatigued you are entering the taper
• How you have responded to previous tapers

A two- to three-week taper is therefore a framework—not a law.

How Much Should You Reduce Mileage During a Marathon Taper?

The most important change during the taper is a meaningful reduction in total running volume.

Research on endurance athletes generally supports reducing overall training volume substantially while retaining some training intensity and frequency.

That does not mean you need to cut every individual run by exactly 50% on the same day.

Instead, think of the taper as a progressive unloading of your overall training week.

For example, a runner might gradually move from a normal peak week toward roughly:

• Three weeks before the marathon: a modest reduction from peak training
• Two weeks before the marathon: a more noticeable reduction in total volume
• Race week: substantially less running than normal, with the marathon itself becoming the week’s major effort

The goal is to arrive at race day feeling increasingly fresh—not to hit an arbitrary mileage percentage.

Should You Keep Running During the Marathon Taper?

Yes.

For most runners, tapering does not mean replacing a normal running routine with complete rest.

If you normally run five or six days per week and tolerate that frequency well, you may continue running frequently while simply making those runs shorter.

Maintaining some of your normal routine can help you stay physically and mentally connected to running while the reduction in volume allows fatigue to fall.

Some athletes may benefit from an additional rest day during race week. Others feel better maintaining their normal frequency with very short runs.

Again, individual response matters.

Should You Still Do Workouts During the Taper?

You do not need to eliminate every bit of faster running during the taper.

In fact, small amounts of controlled intensity can help you maintain rhythm, confidence, and familiarity with race pace.

What changes is the volume of the workout.

You are no longer trying to complete one of the biggest workouts of your training cycle.

A race-week workout should leave you feeling better when you finish than when you started.

One simple example I have used is:

2 miles easy + 2 miles at marathon pace + 2 miles easy

For another runner, the workout could be even shorter.

Strides such as 4–6 × 20 seconds fast and relaxed can also provide a small touch of speed without creating significant fatigue.

The taper is not the time for a fitness test.

When Should You Do Your Final Hard Workout?

Your biggest marathon-specific workouts should already be complete before the final portion of your taper.

The closer you get to race day, the less sense it makes to perform a workout that requires several days to recover from.

You can still run at marathon pace or touch faster efforts, but keep the total workload controlled.

Once you enter race week, ask yourself:

“Will this run make me feel sharper on race day, or am I doing it because I’m nervous and feel like I need to prove something?”

If it is the second one, back off.

What Should Your Final Long Run Look Like?

Your final truly demanding long run should generally occur before the final race-week portion of your taper.

After that, the long run becomes shorter and less stressful.

How short depends on your normal training.

A high-mileage athlete who routinely runs long may tolerate more running one week before the marathon than a lower-mileage or first-time marathoner.

Rather than prescribing one universal 90-minute run, reduce the long run enough that you finish feeling comfortable and recover quickly.

The purpose of the final long run is not to add one more major endurance stimulus. Your endurance has already been built.

Example Marathon Taper Schedule

The following is an example of how a taper might progress. It is not a universal training plan.

About 3 Weeks Before the Marathon

• Complete your final major race-specific training
• Begin reducing overall volume
• Maintain normal easy-running rhythm
• Keep quality work controlled

About 2 Weeks Before the Marathon

• Reduce total mileage further
• Shorten the long run
• Retain small amounts of marathon pace or faster running
• Prioritize recovery between runs

Race Week

• Run substantially less than normal
• Keep easy runs short and comfortable
• Include only a small amount of marathon pace or strides if they help you feel sharp
• Avoid difficult workouts, long runs, or strength sessions that create soreness
• Give increasing attention to sleep, nutrition, hydration, logistics, and mental preparation

The marathon itself is the final and most important workout of the cycle.

Don’t Try to Make Up Missed Training During the Taper

If your marathon training did not go perfectly, the final week or two is not the time to cram in the workouts you missed.

You cannot recreate months of preparation with one extra long run or hard workout shortly before race day.

But you can create unnecessary fatigue or soreness that follows you to the starting line.

Accept the training you completed and make the best decision for the fitness you currently have.

Arriving slightly undertrained but healthy and rested is generally much more useful than arriving at the marathon exhausted because you tried to squeeze in one final week of heroic training.

Marathon Taper Anxiety Is Normal

One of the strange things about tapering is that runners often begin questioning their fitness at exactly the moment they are supposed to trust it.

Your training routine changes. You suddenly have more energy and more time to think about the race. Small aches that you ignored during heavy training may suddenly seem more noticeable.

You may have a run that feels terrible and wonder whether you have lost fitness.

Do not judge your marathon readiness from one easy run during the taper.

Look back at the entire body of work you completed:

• The consistent weeks
• The long runs
• The workouts
• The early mornings
• The difficult days you worked through

That training is your evidence.

Carb Loading During the Marathon Taper

Training is decreasing during the taper, but nutrition remains extremely important.

In the final days before the marathon, shift your attention toward arriving at the starting line well fueled.

This is when your planned carbohydrate-loading strategy becomes important.

Do not use race week to experiment with unusual foods or completely overhaul your diet. Build around foods you already know work well for you while intentionally increasing carbohydrate intake as race day approaches.

For a detailed strategy, read my guide to carb loading before a marathon.

Hydration During Race Week

Pay attention to hydration throughout race week, but do not turn hydration into another contest.

Drink regularly, respond to thirst, and account for weather and your normal needs rather than suddenly forcing enormous amounts of water.

Your taper is also a good time to review the fueling and hydration plan you practiced during long runs.

Sleep and Recovery During the Marathon Taper

Give yourself the best opportunity to recover during the taper.

Prioritize consistent sleep, reduce unnecessary physical stress, and avoid adding new activities that could make you sore or exhausted.

This is probably not the week to try a new strength-training routine, spend an entire day walking around a city, or tackle a difficult home project because you suddenly have extra time.

Protect the fitness you built.

Prepare Your Race-Day Logistics Early

Use the extra mental bandwidth created by reduced training to get organized.

Before the final day, know:

• What time you need to wake up
• How you are getting to the start
• Where you will park or meet transportation
• What you are eating before the race
• What shoes and clothing you are wearing
• How you are carrying your gels or fuel
• Where aid stations will be located
• What your pacing strategy will be

Race morning already brings enough excitement. Eliminate the problems you can solve in advance.

Common Marathon Taper Mistakes

• Trying to squeeze in one last huge workout. Your biggest training should already be complete.
• Stopping running completely. Most runners benefit from maintaining some normal running rhythm.
• Keeping mileage too high because you are afraid of losing fitness. The purpose of the taper is to reduce accumulated fatigue.
• Cutting all intensity. Small doses of marathon pace or strides can help you stay sharp without creating substantial fatigue.
• Cramming missed training. You cannot make up an incomplete training cycle during race week.
• Testing yourself. Save the race effort for race day.
• Trying new shoes, foods, supplements, or workouts. Race week is a poor time for unnecessary experimentation.
• Panicking because an easy run feels bad. One taper run does not define your fitness.

What Research Says About Marathon Tapering

Research on endurance athletes supports the basic taper strategy of reducing training volume while maintaining some training frequency and intensity.

A major meta-analysis found strong performance results with a taper of roughly two weeks and a substantial reduction in training volume without eliminating intensity or frequency. A newer systematic review similarly found effective endurance tapers lasting up to three weeks.

Research involving more than 158,000 recreational marathoners also found that runners who followed disciplined reductions in training before race day performed better than runners who used minimal or inconsistent tapers, with strong results associated with tapers lasting up to three weeks.

These findings provide a useful starting framework, but your individual taper should still reflect your own training volume, fatigue, experience, and previous response to tapering.

Trust the Taper

The taper can feel uncomfortable because marathon runners become accustomed to solving problems by working harder.

But once your marathon training is complete, working harder is no longer the objective.

Reduce your mileage. Keep enough running to stay comfortable and sharp. Recover. Fuel yourself. Get organized. Remind yourself of the work you have already done.

You have spent months building your fitness.

Now let go of the cumulative fatigue and allow that fitness to emerge.

Trust your training. Trust the taper. And arrive on marathon morning ready to race.

What Comes Next?

The taper brings you to the fifth phase of marathon training: Race-Day Performance.

At that point, the training is finished. Your job is to execute the race you prepared for.