Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Tapering

No matter which schedule you have followed so far, in the final two weeks or so before the goal marathon race, you should start tapering. That means gradually cutting back both the mileage and the intensity of the workouts. Your last long run should be no closer than two weeks before the marathon.

In the final week before the marathon, especially a few days before it, your daily mileage should be almost nothing, say two to five miles. You may even want to take a day or two off for better recovery. This is all assuming that your training has gone well and you are in better shape than when you first started. If your health has been good and you did not over train or have any major injuries or problems, then you should feel quite comfortable taking it easy for at least a week before. Even if your training did not go as you may have planned, there is nothing you can accomplish except the risk of injury and exhaustion by cramming in miles in the final weeks. by Arpan DeAngelo

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