But be smart. How you spend the last few weeks of marathon training — we’re getting ready for the Marine Corps Marathon — could make or break your race. It’s not the time to squeeze in extra workouts, nor is it time to kick back with the PlayStation.
It’s time to taper — to ramp down the length and intensity of your workouts so you can be as fresh and rested as possible on race day.
[Not racing? Keep these tips in mind in the days before your PT Test.]
“With the taper, you’re giving your body a chance to bounce back from all that hard training,” said Army Maj. Dan Browne, a 2:11 marathoner and head coach of the Army World Class Athlete Program’s track-and-field team. “When you let your body rest and recuperate, it comes back stronger. It will allow you to have your best performance at the marathon.”
Browne, a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team, had these five tips:
1. Tapering is individual. Just like your training, what works for your buddy during a taper might not work for you. Listen to your body.
2. Give yourself enough time to taper. “Your hardest long run effort should be done three weeks prior to your marathon,” Browne said. Three weeks will give you enough time to recover from that hard effort to have a good performance on marathon day.
3. Ramp down. Browne recommends a 15- to 20-percent decrease in mileage each week leading up to your race: “If you’re running 50 miles a week, then [do] 40, then 30.” By race week you should be at half of your normal training week mileage.
4. Don’t sweat the taper crazies. All that extra free time and pent-up energy will give you that “excited antsy feeling,” Browne said. This means your body is well rested and well prepared to go that distance. This does not mean you should fill your free time by repainting your house or starting taxing projects. Those can wait.
5. Don’t try to make up for a lack of training. Trying to play catch-up and sneaking in missed workouts will only leave you run down and not properly rested for your race. “There’s no cramming for the marathon,” Browne says. “You give yourself that rest, or it’s a test of will. There’s no faking it with the marathon.”
Browne’s last piece of race advice?
“Don’t do anything new on race day. Do what you’ve prepared for.”
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