Tapering for a half?

yesimpson

I am going to run my first half marathon 2 weeks today.
I have been training properly for 3 months, but I've been running regularly for coming up to 2 years this winter. My last race was a hilly 10K in February, which I completed in 1hr 2, so I'm not fast but I was pleased with that time. As it's my first half, the goal is purely to finish. I'm anticipating a likely time of around 2.5 hours.
I was planning to do my last long run (17K) on Saturday 3rd, leaving me with just some light gym time on Monday 5th and maybe a swim on Wednesday 7th, then I was intending to just walk and go about my normal life with no purposeful exercise (bar stretching) until the big day on the 11th. However I've been getting mixed opinions on this. Some think I can keep running shorter distances right up until the day before, and some think I should move the last long run further away from race day and really take it easy until the half. The latter sounds like overkill, and the former seems like it's running the risk of injury, but then I'm no expert, obviously.
Any advice regarding tapering before a half from those who have more experience than me would be greatly appreciated.

louubelle16

When I ran my last half, I had the same mixed messages as you. So I went with what felt best for my body, as I know I perform better after a short break, so I walked 5km in place of a run for a week leading up to it to really rest.

What do you think would suit your body best?

macgurlnet

When I did my half this past spring, I ran ~12K the week before the event. I did a short run (6.5 km or so) the Tuesday before the run and took it easy otherwise (walking, some yoga). My training plan technically called for running 17K, but I took the advice of another runner from the run club I'm in and just went 12K instead.

So, for me, I did 14.5K 2 weeks before the event, 1-2 shorter runs during the week(~6.5K each), then 12K the week before the event. It worked out just fine in the end - I finished right around 2 hours, 10 minutes.

I don't think running right up to the end is a good idea, though some people certainly can do that without overstressing the body.

It's definitely a very individual thing - listen to your body and take the advice that matches best with how you're feeling

~Lyssa

dewd2

I do my longest run 2 weeks before the race. I run normally the week after my longest training run and do a shorter "long run" one week prior to the race. The week leading up to the race I run at least once, sometimes twice but never very far (and always allow at least days of no running before the race). I also stop lifting 7-10 days prior to the race.

It is important to allow your body some time to rest before you give your maximum effort for the race.

MeanderingMammal

Lower volume, but maintaining the intensity is the way to go. I have a half next Sunday so did a 19K easy paced yesterday and I'll do three short runs this week; 10k, 8k, 5k at my normal training pace of about a 9 min/ mile.

STrooper

The suggestion by @MeanderingMammal sounds like the way to go. It is similar to the recommendations I've seen in some training plans for HM and FM (tapering for the FM is usually 3 weeks). Shorter, but same intensity pattern as that leading up to the last long run.

Now, I've never trained just for a HM. The HM distance race is just something I fit into my training for FM or are done after I've completed a training and FM race. I do like them in that I can run much harder and know that when I get done, I'm done. My experience at FM distance is that a FM is not just two HMs without a break.

Whatever you do, you do want to back off at least a week before the big race. You are now at the point that there really isn't anything you can do to add to your running base. Good luck!

mwyvr

Myself I would not leave a 4 day gap between last run and race day. I find after two, especially after three, days of no running I feel sluggish on run day. I want to feel rested, not sluggish.

Since your goal is to complete, is it your plan to run the half at your training pace? That's perfectly fine if so, and if so, it should be easy enough to fall in to pace on race day. In this scenario some easy shorter runs the week of, taking the day before completely off, is appropriate. As always, listen to your body.

If you have a race pace in mind, you might consider for your last run day (race day - 2, leaving a rest day the day before race day) to be an *easy* (training pace) 5 or 6km including warm up but include some 2 or 3 minute intervals where you pick up your pace to race pace, then drop back to training pace to recover for 2 or 3 minutes, and repeat. The workout should not feel taxing. The intent is not to build speed at this late date but to remember what race pace feels like.

yesimpson

Thank you everyone for all your advice. I think I will go with my original plan, but perhaps add a short run around the middle of the last week. @louubelle16 I do notice a difference when I take a few days off between runs, so don't intend to do anything after Thursday. It's reassuring to see that I don't have to wrap myself in cotton wool for 10 days prior like some people have been advising me IRL! @mwyvr I do intend to run the half at training pace (10 minute mile); any bonus due to race-day adrenaline would be great, but I'm conscious of making sure I have enough energy to finish the darn thing. @MeanderingMammal good luck for your race this weekend.

I appreciate all your input - nice to know I wasn't a million miles off a sensible plan!

BrianSharpe

Check out Hal Higdon's training plans (I've followed somewhat modified versions of them) in the Novice 1 plan (1st timers) he has you running short & easy up to about 2 days out from the race, which I find works well for me.

rybo

I really don't think much time is needed to taper for a half unless you were running 40+ mpw, I'd keep ur last long run where it is & run a few short easy runs, between that & race day.

JoRocka

@Stoshew71 can help- he just wrote this up though in the monthly running challenge thread- give it a read- it's pretty much what you need to know.

My first carb load I had to go with google as well. LOL

Some things about carb loading. it's a little more complex than just eating a bunch more carbs.

They did different studies. The first was done by a Sweedish physiologist named Gunvar Ahlborg. He found out if you trained really hard at the beginning of the week going into race weekend for 2 or 3 days along with eating low amounts of carbs, then followed up by 3 days of rest and eating extra carbs - the first few days almost depleted all of your glycogen, then followed up with no exercise and lots of carbs - the body went into what is called glycogen overload. That means that your body can temporarily store more glycogen than it can normally store. Almost twice as much can be stored. This is awesome. The ability to store almost twice the extra glycogen going into race day. However, the cost of this is an intense set of workouts early on the week. The body needs tapering and rests for a few weeks so the muscles are at their best going into race day. So this strategy was not the ideal. Glycogen overload = good, muscle overuse = not so good.

So some smart people discovered that you didn't need to almost completely deplete all your glycogen in order to maxmimize glycogen storage. You can get nearly the same glycogen benefits if you follow a less intense strategy.

The No-Depletion Carbo-Loading Method
1.Perform a long workout (but not an exhaustive workout) one week before race day.
2.Eat normally (55-60% carbohydrate) until three days before a longer race.
3.Eat a high-carb diet (70%) the final three days before racing while training very lightly.

During the carb load, you eat more carbs but less fat and protein in order to maintain the same number of calories. Early in the week, before carb load starts, you can do light workouts low mileage, but once carb load starts, you are supposed to stop working out. You can probably get one short shakeout run the day before or 2 days before race day, but that is it. No cross training is allowed either.

OK! So that is the general idea behind it, but the devil is in the details. Tapering and Carb Loading is really more of an art than a science. So much of this depends on how your body make up and how it reacts to the specific training you did all year. To make a long story short, the first time you attempt this, you are almost going to get it wrong. You have to learn how your body reacts to different stuff and do something different the next time around as you learn more about how your body specifically reacts. First off, do you do better by taking a complete day off from running the day before a race, or do you do better by going out for a short 1 mile or 2 mile jog the day before a race. Different people react differently. Intensity going into race week. Some people can do better by maintaining the same intensities of the same workouts they did in the last few weeks of training during their taper, but with just reduced mileage. So if you were doing VO2max and repeat intervals during training, you continue that into the taper but with reduced mileage. Other people, they do better by going no faster than goal race pace during taper. Others do better with some short bursts thrown in at slightly faster than goal race pace.

So before we get into the details of carb loading, let's start with the taper. Because both go hand in hand. What I will give you here is what we will call a "text book" taper for a marathon. What that means, you will have to learn through experience on how to modify this to make it best work out for you.

Tapering should mean you cut volume, but not intensity. Meaning, not everything is a slow easy jog. However, you should still have like 70-80% of all your running to be easy or recovery pace with the remaining devoted towards your more speedier workouts. This is when you focus on your goal race pace. It is sometimes wise to throw in short bursts of slightly faster than goal race pace just to remind your muscles of this pace in times you need a short burst during the race. It also makes your goal race pace seem easier. But we are not talking repeat intervals, or major workouts at slightly faster than race pace. You may however be the rare person that performs better by actually working out at faster than race pace during a taper. But even in this case, the volume of this is very small. Most of your "speed workouts" should be at goal race pace.

So you figure out what was the peak number of miles during training (before taper). I personally took an average of the last 3 weeks going into my taper the first time I did this. Whatever number you come up with will be your base mileage for the taper. So you have 3 week tapers and you have 2 week tapers. Again, some people actually do better in a 2 week taper, but the general concensious is a 3 week taper. So I will cover that one here. No cross training during this time.
No strength training this time. It will do you no good to do either. The "hay is in the barn" already. You won't make any gains that will effect your race this late in the game. The idea of a taper is to rest your muscles so they can heal, so that come race day, they are at their maximum strength. No major hill workouts. Try to run flat as much as you can. A normal diet is needed. Enough protein and healthy fat to aid in the muscle restoration process, and enough carbs to maintain healthy weight and energy levels. Eat all your vegatables and fruit and leafy vegatables/whole grains (fiber).

In the next 3 weeks, the volume of running will drop gradually. How you shave off each particular workout is a personal customization. Everyone reacts different. However, the idea is that your shorter runs remain the same, but the longer runs get their miles chopped off.

3 weeks before race day you run 80% of your base mileage for the taper.
-- your long run is reduced by 10-20% from your largest long run
-- If 20 miles was your biggest long run, run 16-18 miles.
2 weeks before race day you run 60% of your base mileage. (Others say 70-75%)
-- This is where it gets tricky and you have to learn how your body reacts.
-- VO2 workouts and tempo workouts should be replaced by goal race pace (GRP) workouts
--would be wise to throw in some strides or bursts at slightly faster than GRP
-- Long Run is 50-60% the max (If you ran a 20 miler, run 10-12 instead).
The week going into your race day
-- Significant mileage drop
-- Maybe 2 - 3 sessions this week.
-- Some people do great with a shake out run the day before, some people need the extra rest
--This week is the most trickiest part of the taper since it is difficult to know how your body specifically reacts.

This week is when you start your carb load. (start 3 days before the race and continue on even in the early morning hours before the race)

You should have gotten in at least 2 short workouts already before carb load starts. The last workout depends on whether you do better with a shake out run the day before or not. If not, then do your last short workout 2 or 3 days before race day. Remember, this is an easy paced run. No faster than goal race pace. Most of this last workout is much slower than GRP. Maybe a few bursts are done at GRP. Run in the shoes you plan to wear on race day as much as possible.
You should have worn the clothes (socks, shirt, shorts, undewear, ect) and even all your assesories you plan to have on race day a few times already. If it's going to be cold at the start of the race, I have been known to buy a sweat shirt at the thrift store ($3) and wore it a few times in training, then come race day, if I need to toss it on the road (never to be seen again) it's no big deal.

3 days before Race Day
Start dropping fat and protein and increase carbs
Monitor closely how many calories you eat per day and how many grams of each macronutrient
The last thing you want to do is gain weight via fat- only maintain weight
You should know your maintenance calorie range by now
Make sure you get in electroyltes, and all your vitamins and minerals by eating a variety of foods and carbs. Remember, nothing new. Eat only foods you know how you will react to. That means you should have been eating most of this all throughout training. In the next 3 days, you will want to eat about 4 grams of carbs for every pound of body weight. (150 lb runner will need ~600 grams or 2,400 calories). I read on 1 site that you actually need 7-10 grams per kg of body weight (That would mean 3-4.5 grams per pound of body weight). This can be very hard if you are not used to eating this many carbs. As you eat mostly carbs with very little to no protein and fat, your blood glucose levels skyrocket. You will get sugar highs and crashes. You may get some GI distress.
Watch your total calorie intake for the day. Do not go over your maintenance level. use this MFP site to track what you eat. Eat more smaller meals if eating a ton of carbs makes you sick. This is the only 3 days you can go crazy on Reeses Peanutbutter Cups and bottles of Coke. You will want to eat healther carbs in the first couple of days (brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat breat, potatoes, whole fruit). But going into the last day, you will want quicker (simple) carbs and less fiber.
I tend to stop eating salads the day before a major race. if you are pretty regular and can be sure that you can have your last bowel movement the morning before the race, then go with what works. I personally don't chance it. I limit the amount of fiber I eat the day before race day.

VERY IMORTANT: Glycogen production requires lots of water. For every molecule of glycogen, 3 parts of water are bound. During the whole 3 days drink lots and lots of liquids. This means you WILL gain water weight during these last 3 days. But you will also shed this water weight during the race as you use up your glycogen. Drink sports drinks, drink Coke (or favorite soda), drink fruit juice. Just log it as you do. Pay attention to grams of carbs and total calories. Try not to go over total calories for the day beyond maintenance. Cut proteins and fats out if you must to get the number of grams of carbs in.

The night before can be very creative meal. Pancakes with extra syrup for dinner? Oh yeah. it can be more than just spaghetti. Measure everything. Log everything. Remember, nothing new either.

The night before the race get to bed early. (If you can sleep well). You will need to get up super early. Eat a small meal of carbs. 600 grams of carbs 3 hours before your race. You lost quite a bit of glycogen while sleeping. You need to top off. About an hour before the race, be sipping on gatorade. Be careful not to over hydrate before the race or else you will need the porta potty early on the race.

The last 2 days before the race, try to stay off your feet as much as possible (minus a shake out run the day before if you need it). No cutting the grass. No helping a friend move in/out. Even limit the time to walk around at the expo the day before the race.



I hope this helps. Good luck!!!!

yesimpson

So much info from everyone. The nerd in me loves it. Thank you all again.
With regards to nutrition, I've read it's best to have the big carby meal for lunch the day before a race, as opposed to the evening, to avoid feeling heavy and sluggish the morning of the run. Obviously I will not be trying any new foods and nothing too greasy or full of fibre, but does anyone have any thoughts?

Stoshew71

Thanks @JoRocka - What I wrote up that you quoted is a typical "text-book" taper for a full marathon. Marathon's are tricky cause ~20 mile mark (about 3 hours in) you would be in serious glycogen deficit mode. A half marathon is not as whacky, so the carb loading/3 week taper is totally over kill. Plus she does not seem to want to go out and try to PR this.

@yessimpson You will want to continue to eat the way you normally eat in preparation of your long run in training. Nothing new on race day.

For a half, I personally don't go more than a week in my taper. But you will have to go with what works for you in your training. What do you normally do for long runs (distance and how often and at what effort)? I would say, if you normally do ~13 miles every weekend as a long run and you only plan to run at training pace, then this should be a piece of cake for you. Maybe a few short easy runs with the fastest pace you run the week going into the race is whatever goal race pace you plan on race day.

When to do the last run before your race depends totally how you feel when you take 1 day off or 2 days off. As @mwyvr suggested, you want to feel rested but not sluggush. You will have to go by your experience in the past.

mwyvr

Agreed, the half is a much different animal than the full marathon. Once a runner has built up a good base most can run a half every weekend without special prep if race pace = training pace. A piece of cake! A piece of cake afterwards might be nice, although I'd prefer a beer and a smokie myself!

Myself I'm going to reduce my long run next weekend in advance of a 25km race Saturday October 10th that I plan on running hard. I'm a little freaked out by the punishing hills in the first 1/3 of the course, but have done exploratory running there so know what to expect. I expect pain.

Currently I plan to do some hills or a trail with decent climbing early in the week to think about hill strategies and then for the rest of that week easy stuff with some race pace drills, nothing too taxing. If I take a day off (plan to), it'll be Thursday. Friday I have a tradition to uphold -- Date Run Fridays with my wife -- and am going to do that early Friday morning (max recovery time) provided I'm feeling good. It'll be done at an easy pace and at only 8km I'll be fresh the next day and the running will help keep me relaxed which is just as important as training!

JoRocka

Stoshew71 wrote: »

Thanks @JoRocka - What I wrote up that you quoted is a typical "text-book" taper for a full marathon. Marathon's are tricky cause ~20 mile mark (about 3 hours in) you would be in serious glycogen deficit mode. A half marathon is not as whacky, so the carb loading/3 week taper is totally over kill. Plus she does not seem to want to go out and try to PR this.

@yessimpson You will want to continue to eat the way you normally eat in preparation of your long run in training. Nothing new on race day.

For a half, I personally don't go more than a week in my taper. But you will have to go with what works for you in your training. What do you normally do for long runs (distance and how often and at what effort)? I would say, if you normally do ~13 miles every weekend as a long run and you only plan to run at training pace, then this should be a piece of cake for you. Maybe a few short easy runs with the fastest pace you run the week going into the race is whatever goal race pace you plan on race day.

When to do the last run before your race depends totally how you feel when you take 1 day off or 2 days off. As @mwyvr suggested, you want to feel rested but not sluggush. You will have to go by your experience in the past.

Good to know- I just knew that paragraph was very helpful for me. I think Hal has a 2 week taper for my Half. I do a 12 miler on the 3rd of October- and then the race on the 10th. So just shy of 2 weeks. Which seems a little close- as that's might long- but as Hal tells me every time I go run "trust the program- it works" LOL

I did a carb load for my 11 miler this week to prep- I'll do one next week as well for practice- and I found it was much harder to load up on carbs than I thought- so I'm glad I'm practicing. It's done some weird things to my GI tract so- definitely give it a trial run ahead of the race!!!

Stoshew71

Yeah, if you are used to cutting carbs, then going in the opposite direction can really cause a rebellion in your stomach. I remember the days after Haloween when I was a kid and getting sick from eating like 3 milkway fun size bars, 4 snickers, sweet tarts, and candy corn all within a half hour. LOL

yesimpson

Stoshew71 wrote: »

For a half, I personally don't go more than a week in my taper. But you will have to go with what works for you in your training. What do you normally do for long runs (distance and how often and at what effort)? I would say, if you normally do ~13 miles every weekend as a long run and you only plan to run at training pace, then this should be a piece of cake for you. Maybe a few short easy runs with the fastest pace you run the week going into the race is whatever goal race pace you plan on race day.

Last long run was 11.5 miles, at a reasonably comfortable pace (average 11 minute mile by the end I think). I was ready and very happy to stop when the distance was reached but not feeling on the brink of collapse. I try to do a long run once a week, and I've been gradually increasing the distance. I'm a little worried because I haven't hit race distance in training but I do think on the day I can do it (I'm very stubborn if nothing else). Because this is my first half and long runs have been leaving me ravenous the next day and sleeping for 10+ hours the night after, I wondered if my body needed a taper week in order to rest up, but I'm getting the feeling that a significant reduction in volume and keeping some moderate activity should be perfectly fine. I'm definitely not doing anything after the Thursday (race is Sunday), as I notice an improvement in both my runs physically and my mood during runs with a few days of good rest and good food behind me.

Getting to the end is my real goal, so I think I may be worrying overly, considering it's not like I'm trying to PR so maybe I don't need to try and stringently control the final week so tightly!

Stoshew71

yesimpson wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

For a half, I personally don't go more than a week in my taper. But you will have to go with what works for you in your training. What do you normally do for long runs (distance and how often and at what effort)? I would say, if you normally do ~13 miles every weekend as a long run and you only plan to run at training pace, then this should be a piece of cake for you. Maybe a few short easy runs with the fastest pace you run the week going into the race is whatever goal race pace you plan on race day.

Last long run was 11.5 miles, at a reasonably comfortable pace (average 11 minute mile by the end I think). I was ready and very happy to stop when the distance was reached but not feeling on the brink of collapse. I try to do a long run once a week, and I've been gradually increasing the distance. I'm a little worried because I haven't hit race distance in training but I do think on the day I can do it (I'm very stubborn if nothing else). Because this is my first half and long runs have been leaving me ravenous the next day and sleeping for 10+ hours the night after, I wondered if my body needed a taper week in order to rest up, but I'm getting the feeling that a significant reduction in volume and keeping some moderate activity should be perfectly fine. I'm definitely not doing anything after the Thursday (race is Sunday), as I notice an improvement in both my runs physically and my mood during runs with a few days of good rest and good food behind me.

Getting to the end is my real goal, so I think I may be worrying overly, considering it's not like I'm trying to PR so maybe I don't need to try and stringently control the final week so tightly!

If you plan to do more of these half marathon's in the future, I would strongly urge you to maintain the 11-13 mile long runs after your race. That and try and get to 40 miles/week. Your long run should be between 25-35% of your weekly distance. A 13 mile long run would suggest ~39 mile weeks. Even if you did all of these miles at easy conversational pace, you will notice a huge improvement in both your conditioning and pace. Just make sure you slowly build up the miles to 40. (i.e. add only a mile each week, or add only 10% of previous week mileage, insert cut back weeks when needed, spread your weekly miles across many smaller runs and the long run).

yesimpson

Stoshew71 wrote: »

yesimpson wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

For a half, I personally don't go more than a week in my taper. But you will have to go with what works for you in your training. What do you normally do for long runs (distance and how often and at what effort)? I would say, if you normally do ~13 miles every weekend as a long run and you only plan to run at training pace, then this should be a piece of cake for you. Maybe a few short easy runs with the fastest pace you run the week going into the race is whatever goal race pace you plan on race day.

Last long run was 11.5 miles, at a reasonably comfortable pace (average 11 minute mile by the end I think). I was ready and very happy to stop when the distance was reached but not feeling on the brink of collapse. I try to do a long run once a week, and I've been gradually increasing the distance. I'm a little worried because I haven't hit race distance in training but I do think on the day I can do it (I'm very stubborn if nothing else). Because this is my first half and long runs have been leaving me ravenous the next day and sleeping for 10+ hours the night after, I wondered if my body needed a taper week in order to rest up, but I'm getting the feeling that a significant reduction in volume and keeping some moderate activity should be perfectly fine. I'm definitely not doing anything after the Thursday (race is Sunday), as I notice an improvement in both my runs physically and my mood during runs with a few days of good rest and good food behind me.

Getting to the end is my real goal, so I think I may be worrying overly, considering it's not like I'm trying to PR so maybe I don't need to try and stringently control the final week so tightly!

If you plan to do more of these half marathon's in the future, I would strongly urge you to maintain the 11-13 mile long runs after your race. That and try and get to 40 miles/week. Your long run should be between 25-35% of your weekly distance. A 13 mile long run would suggest ~39 mile weeks. Even if you did all of these miles at easy conversational pace, you will notice a huge improvement in both your conditioning and pace. Just make sure you slowly build up the miles to 40. (i.e. add only a mile each week, or add only 10% of previous week mileage, insert cut back weeks when needed, spread your weekly miles across many smaller runs and the long run).

Assuming I don't experience anything so horrific it scars me for life in two weeks' time, I would love to do more at this distance, so I'll follow your advice. I've entered a 10K in January, and I hope to get in under an hour for that one, but I want to keep my long runs whilst training for that (I've grown to really appreciate my 1-2 hours alone in the fresh air on early weekend mornings).

Thank you again for your pearls of wisdom!

dewd2

If you can run 11.5 you can run 13.1. My longest training run prior to my first HM was just under 12 miles.

Enjoy the experience. It will be fun.

mwyvr

@yesimpson You'll do fine, no scarring! Totally agree with the comment about maintaining 11-13 mile runs after your race. They'll be of tremendous value for future half marathons and also for your 10K training which you'll breeze through and also be in a position to do quality speed work to aim for whatever target pace/time you want.

One past the mental hurdle of running a half marathon (in training or in a race) many people start finding it far less challenging or intimidating. Get a few 13 milers under your belt in four to six weeks (after your race) and I bet you feel that way too.

21.1km - not too long, not too short, just right! -- Goldilocks

patrikc333

if your goal is to enjoy it and finish it, I'll be tempting to not change too much from your routine

there are lots of different opinions, and in the end, even though it sounds a useless advice, you have to do what works best for you

personally I like to keep doing what I'm doing, obviously I won't run a half a couple of days before the race, but I also won't quit running for 4-5 days

yesimpson

Thanks to all who gave their input. In the week before my first half I did one short run of 7K at my usual pace, went swimming and did a lot of stretching and walking. Managed to complete the race this morning in 2hr 13, which I'm happy with considering my training had led me to expect around 2:25-2:30. Thanks for all the advice!

dewd2

Congratulations!

Now that you finished the first one you can start planning for the next.