Don't Taper. PEAK!

Schuey Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:30 pm

With so many get ready for a Fall marathon I thought I would post one of my favorite articles from running times. This is something that I have found to be use for me as I ran more marathons and was looking for was to improve my race day performance.

Hope so of you will find the information useful for your own training and upcoming races.

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=14759&PageNum=1

Nick Morris Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:46 pm

Thanks for the article Mr. Schumacher. With so many of us getting close to entering the "Taper Phase" of our training, this should come in handy...

Glenn Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:33 am

Nice timing Schuey - I'm on Day 3 of taper (er.. peaking). Thanks!

Kenny B. Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:40 am

solid information!

Pete B Wed Sep 14, 2011 3:08 pm

Thanks Shuey, sounds good - I could use an extra week building to that peak.

Nick Morris Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:27 pm

I think that maintaining intensity is the key...it keeps you from settling into the taper funk.

John Kilpatrick Wed Sep 14, 2011 10:30 pm

Makes a lot of sense - I was expecting a big "break" with the plan that I'm on, but it really doesn't give one. Relaxes volume a bit, but keeps intensity high basically until the very end. As I look back, I think that was an error of mine tapering for my marathon. Appreciate the article!

Reina Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:30 pm

Thanks for the link ... great article!

--Reina

Schuey wrote:With so many get ready for a Fall marathon I thought I would post one of my favorite articles from running times. This is something that I have found to be use for me as I ran more marathons and was looking for was to improve my race day performance.

Hope so of you will find the information useful for your own training and upcoming races.

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=14759&PageNum=1

Mike MacLellan Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:54 pm

It might just be me, but the numbers listed on the article for time reduction seem to be appropriate only if you're doing short runs, for the most part. If you're doing an hour a day, a 30 min reduction in week 3 is still 50%... Add that to the reduced long run and we're talking somewhere between a third and half of your normal mileage. Personally, I'm a fan of huge mileage cuts in weeks 2 and 3 to really let the legs heal up as much as possible while maintaining fitness and race-readiness with the high intensity work every 48-96 hours.

Jerry Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:42 am

How to keep intensity for MrMatt and Jerry alike? lol!

Dave P Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:07 pm

Thanks Martin. It seems to be semantics to me, but it's good to read it again as I'm forced to cut back & "taper" early due to very sore legs.

Ben Z Thu Sep 15, 2011 8:24 pm

Mike MacLellan wrote:It might just be me, but the numbers listed on the article for time reduction seem to be appropriate only if you're doing short runs, for the most part. If you're doing an hour a day, a 30 min reduction in week 3 is still 50%... Add that to the reduced long run and we're talking somewhere between a third and half of your normal mileage. Personally, I'm a fan of huge mileage cuts in weeks 2 and 3 to really let the legs heal up as much as possible while maintaining fitness and race-readiness with the high intensity work every 48-96 hours.

You might be surprised with your results with a 'higher mileage' taper. I know I was