A Short Course on Tapering

Disclaimer: Tapering is an inexact science

I expect everyone already knows how to taper, but in the unlikely event that a few people don't have it down yet, perhaps the following observations might be helpful.

Tapering is reducing training volume and/or intensity for several days or more prior to an important late-season event. I add the qualifier "late-season" to make a distinction between taking an easy day before a meet (which might be a weekly occurrence throughout the competitive season) and true tapering to reach your best for one or two big meets at the very end of the competitive cycle.

The theory of tapering is pretty simple. Work hard enough to provide a training stimulus, then rest up to let the body recover and "super-compensate" by becoming stronger, fitter, more enduring. The main practical problem with tapering is judging the proper amount of rest. The main psychological problem of tapering is that athletes (and coaches!) are uncomfortable with rest -- it is antithetical to the work ethic that they have been following throughout the season. It feels weird to rest, and it can play games with an athlete's self-confidence.

Let's take the physical side first. What is a good amount of rest to take prior to the final meet of the year, say the EMass XC championships? Most physiologists would say that it would be beneficial to cut training volume in half gradually over the final 1-2 weeks. During this period of reduce volume, there might be some intense training, but only if there was plenty of time to fully recover and benefit from that intense work.

Recovery varies from athlete to athlete, so great care must be taken to make sure all athletes are allowed to recover for the big race.

(Chris Barnicle tells me that the Arkansas runners, who typically train 80-90 miles a week, take two very easy days (less than half their normal mileage) before most races, and even more rest before the biggest races. I have found that I need at least three easy days prior to a race to run my best, although being older, I might need more rest now than I used to.)

If the big race is on a Saturday, the very latest an athlete should be doing any really hard running should be Tuesday. At least, that's my feeling, based on playing it safe. Other coaches might consider a harder run on Wednesday if they know that their athletes can recover in that time. By Thursday, if any fast running is to be done, it should be very light in volume. Thursday is too late to be doing anything long and hard. By Thursday, athletes should be resting.

But now lets consider the psychological aspects of the problem. Highly competitive athletes and coaches do not like to rest. If they have been successful, it is almost certainly because they like to work. When they are working hard, they feel good about themselves, they have confidence, they feel invincible. These are good things. When forced to rest, they become irritable and unhappy, and perhaps lose a little of that confidence.

Therefore, tapering is also the art of doing just enough, and just the right sort of training, to maintain that feeling of confidence and readiness. This is where there is no substitute for knowing the athlete's mental state and personality. Perhaps there is a special workout that is always done at the end of the year, the one that has been associated with good races in previous seasons. Now is the time to roll it out! Perhaps the coach can set up a workout that lets the athlete feel highly fit without compromising that fitness through excessive work.

When I train for an important mile race at the end of a season, there is a workout that I always do to prove to myself that I am ready. It isn't long, but it's pretty intense. I run 3 x 800 at mile race pace or a little faster, with about 5-6 minutes rest in between each 800. I try to do this workout about a week before the big race. Three days before the race, I'll run an even lighter workout of, say 6x200s. During this period my other days are becoming easier, as I reduce the volume of my daily aerobic runs. Maybe other people can do more than this, but the routine is familiar and it has worked; it gives me a psychological boost while giving me time to be at my best for the race itself.

Before a 5K, I would run a track workout four days before the race, but cut the volume of the workout to 2/3 normal. In this way, I finish feeling like I have run fast, but also feeling like I could do much more. Again, it works for me. Your mileage may vary.

Anyway, this is what I think. I'd be interested to hear from other coaches based on their experience. As I said earlier, there is no substitute for observing what actually works and doesn't work with athletes.