2-3 weeks before your goal race, you should start tapering which simply means to reduce your volume while keeping the same frequency. Tapering allows your body to recover and restores glycogen stores in your body for optimal performance on race day. Keep running the same number of days but reduce the volume by 30% each week. The day before the race, go for a shakeout run of no more than 20 minutes.

I tapered, I crushed my race, now what?

After a race, it’s time to rest and recover for at least 1-2 weeks, depending on how long and hard you raced. To combat the post-race blues during this time, have a plan. You can still keep active with non-running activities like walking, hiking, swimming, cycling, etc… But no running!

I learned this lesson hard when I didn’t rest after my Muskoka 70.3 race. I only took a couple of days off and resumed running again after a few days because I felt ok. Even though I thought I was feeling ok, I got injured 2 weeks after the race with insertional achilles tendonitis and wasn’t able to run for 6 months. 🥺😥

Moral of the story: Take at least 2 weeks off after your goal race. It will do you good in the long run.

What is a reverse taper?

A reverse taper is when you increase your mileage gradually over 2-4 weeks (or more if you’re injured) to get back to a base volume. It’s to allow your body to gradually get back to a consistent routine and to start building your aerobic engine again. During this time, just do easy, unstructured runs.

What is my base volume?

Your base volume depends on how much you want to run, what race are you training for next, how long do you have to train, etc…

• At minimum, aim for 3-4 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time which is the minimum recommendation for general fitness.
• If you’re training for a half or full marathon, you should aim to run 4-6 times a week by the time you start your training cycle.
• More experienced runners will run more and even do double run days. So it really depends on what you want to do.

Happy to chat if you have any questions!