BBC Sport: Why should you taper for a marathon?

(Source) It may seem strange to suggest, but the three weeks prior to a marathon are best spent taking it easy. That's assuming you've got a solid few months of training behind you. This period is called tapering and while it does involve some running, all athletes benefit from letting the body recover for the big day. The Academy finds out why: WHAT IS TAPERING? Put simply tapering is the phase in an athlete's programme where the volume of training is reduced. Tapering is often done in preparation for a big event like a marathon so that the body is in prime condition. Generally 2-4 weeks is needed, to give the body time to recover from training and to store energy for the race itself. Charlie Pedlar, physiologist at the English Institute of Sport, says: "When you train hard you improve your ability to access the fuel you need to run and the ability to recover afterwards. "As you reduce your training you take away the need to have a high level of fuel in your body. "And the idea is that your body will then store that fuel. "The damage to the body is also recovered so tapering allows you to start from 100 per cent fitness which is quite important." WHY TAPER? "The problem is that lots of people don't taper their training and they should," says Sam Murphy author of Marathon: From Start to Finish. "Not tapering is a mistake that even experienced runners make. It's a bit of insecurity thing. They think: 'Oh I've still got three weeks so I could get in another good session'. "It's been proven that the ideal amount of time you need to fully recover and be prepared for the marathon is three weeks, which sounds like quite a long time. "In that time your muscles are repairing all the tiny amounts of damage that are done each time you go for a run. "Your glycogen stores, which is where you store your energy in your muscles, are being refilled to their maximum. "So you're just recovering mentally and physically so you perform to your optimum on the day. "If you don't taper for the race it's like starting with half a tank of petrol." HOW DO YOU TAPER? Tapering for three weeks doesn't mean you literally stop running for three weeks before a marathon. Pedlar says: "What you'll find is that people will reduce the duration of their runs but maintain the intensity. "So they'll keep their speed and power but they simply store up fuel - they won't stop their bodies being fit." If you are planning a three-week tapering period, the week before, you should be embarking on your longest training run. Murphy says: "If you're longest run is going to be about three hours, then after the first week you should cut that in half. "Then the week after that I'd cut in half again, so you'd only be doing a quarter of your longest run. "Saying that, it is also really important not to forget about your speed work during the last week of training. "For the two weeks prior to the race you want to cut down the quantity of your other sessions. "Keep the quality. So take a threshold run for example, you'd still work at an uncomfortable pace, but you wouldn't do it for as long." WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IN THE FINAL WEEK? It's tempting to keep yourself ticking over in the final seven days before the marathon. But really it's all for effect. You've done the training, the main thing is not to get injured now and ruin it all. "There's absolutely nothing you can do in that last week which will make you run better," Murphy says. "During the last week I'd go out for a light run on the Tuesday and Thursday but it's more of a psychological thing. "You might feel a bit sluggish during the last week because your body's become used to running. A couple of runs will get rid of that feeling. "Within those runs I'd do a few strides where you pick up the pace for 25 metres or so. But I wouldn't do that if you've never done it before. "And that goes for anything during the last week. "You often see advice to go swimming or cycling which has less impact on your joints. "But you don't want to do a half an hour swim if you never normally swim because that will be a quite a stress to your body if you don't normally do it. "The same thing goes for yoga or things like that."

err...I meant Cape Gate Vaal Half Marathon

Hello Dear Reader,

On Friday night, the plan was to drive to Clarens, South Africa; get some rest; and wake up early in the morning to run the Surrender Hill Half Marathon. Work, however, had other plans. On top of the fact that I was super tired from being on the go for the past month, I had sundowners with a team of my primary program's funders and someone from my headquarter office. When we were finished, I simply couldn't muster the energy to drive to the race. Doc didn't seem too upset that I didn't go, because he spent a concerted amount of effort to keep me in Lesotho to run an 18km route he's been raving about. Although I would have preferred to get a medal for my long run, I agreed to go with Doc at 7am on Saturday morning.

Saturday morning= rain= our planned 7am meet-up wasn't going to happen. Laying in my bed, thinking of the work I needed to get done before I head to the US on Friday, and feeling terrible about not making the race, I took a chance and looked at the Nedbank Race Calendar to see if there might be any races I could attend. Just my luck...the Cape Gate Vaal Marathon...in Vereeniging, South Africa...not too far from many of the races I've completed. Score!

Doc paid me an impromptu visit on Saturday morning, forcing me to get up and start my day. After an extended lunch with Doc, I spent a few hours at work, and then hit the road for the Cape Gate Vaal Half Marathon!

Luckily, I arrived at the hotel early enough to relax, catch up with a few people on Skype, and get to bed early (for once!). At 4:20 am, I hit the road for the 30 minute drive to the race venue: Dickie Fouries Stadium.

As per the usual, after registration, I took the opportunity to relax and observe the madness. Yes, I did say madness! There were so many race participants, it was almost overwhelming. Usually, there is a great deal of fan fare at many of these races: tents, booths, food venders, other venders, etc. This race, however, had very little to do other than the race. Turns out that this event was the last opportunity for runners to qualify for the Two Oceans Marathon (56km) in April (remember, I'll be running the half).

The massive participant base created a totally different race experience than I've had to date. Usually, after the clock starts, the running pack tends to thin out rather quickly. During this race, the pack never really thinned...at least not where I was. The mostly flat course also made running a bit easier and prevented many people from falling back. There were several hills, but being Hillary and all...well...you know what I mean...easy! Speaking of hills, that's what I'll be focusing on entirely for the next two weeks...my taper weeks!

Long story short, with three kilometers to go, I picked up the pace and went into a

full on sprint. Might as well finish strong, right?! Good thing I put a little pep in my step, because it helped me set a new personal record (PR)...21.1 km (13.1m) in 2hr16min! Just in case you didn't know/don't remember, my last time for the same distance was 2hr18min in the Sasol Half Marathon! Woohoo!!!! Since every time I run a half marathon, my time decreases, I'm even more motivated to continue to run to see how low I can go! My next chance to test my skills in a half will be when I run the Two Oceans during Easter weekend. Cha-ching!!!

Race over, ready to head back to the hotel, I was

stopped by some of the guys Doc met while at the Crocodilian 32km. One guys said, "Sho! You love to run!" Now that I think about it...I guess I do! I, Dani, who, before August never ran more than a couple of minutes, loves to run! I went from never participating in a race, other than pass the potato relay race during school field days, I've run one 10km, 4 half marathons, and a 32km! Wow!

Now that my practice races have been completed, I have no more long runs, and only have two weeks left until the Publix Georgia Marathon, I need to do a bit of reading on how to successfully taper! One would have thought that I would have a detailed outline of tapering procedures since my 2nd job is also runner blog stalking, but nope, I don't! I knew that a taper would happen eventually, but wanted to focus on the task at hand...complete my (modified) training plan!

Well, that's all I have for now! Time to start thinking about this whole taper business!

Until next time...one foot in front of the other...keep it movin'!

Yours in (taper to the BIG ONE) training,

Dani