In this instructional video, Floris Gierman explains how to taper effectively before a half marathon, marathon, or ultra‑endurance race. He begins by describing why tapering—reducing training volume—helps muscles recover, maximises glycogen storage, and improves race performance. He outlines two common mistakes: tapering too briefly, which leaves insufficient recovery, and tapering too aggressively, which eliminates all intensity and can leave the athlete feeling flat. Gierman then shares his personal three‑week taper plan: three weeks out run about 75 % of normal mileage, two weeks out cut to roughly 50 %, and race week drop to 25‑30 % (e.g., 60 → 45 → 30 → 15‑18 miles). He keeps short, higher‑intensity efforts, reduces heavy gym work, sits more at his standing desk, and monitors nutrition to avoid unwanted weight gain. In the final three days he rests, then does a short jog with strides the day before the race. The second half of the video focuses on mental calmness: reviewing training logs (e.g., via Strava), visualising the race, writing race reports, journalling, meditating, and spending time outdoors (walks or bike rides). He encourages viewers to stay patient, trust their preparation, and share their own taper strategies in the comments.
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Before your next big race day, whether you're running a half marathon, a marathon, or even an ultra endurance event, it's important to reduce your training. This is also called a taper. In this video, we're going to go through why we taper, um, some of the mistakes that athletes make when they taper. We're going to discuss how I personally taper for my marathons and ultra endurance events, and also how to keep your mind calm during this period. Sometimes your mind starts racing, so we're all going to discover that in this video. During a training cycle, you often run several days a week, typically 3 to 6 times a week for most athletes. Some athletes even run 7 days a week, and a reduction in training helps heal damaged and fatigued muscles. It also promotes the actual maximum glucose or glycogen storage in your muscles, and this will be very helpful, especially in the later parts of a race. There are different thoughts of when to start reducing your training. So some people actually start 3 weeks out while some other ones only start 3 days out. And so there's quite a bit of difference in between that. Personally, I like to start for a marathon about 3 weeks out in advance to really start reducing that training volume. And there are a few common mistakes that I often see with these tapers. One mistake is that people don't take enough time to taper, and so they really don't allow their bodies to fully recover. While some other people actually taper way too much where they cut out almost all of their training volume. They don't do any intensity, they don't do any speed work, and not even recovery miles. Cutting back the mileage gradually will help make you feel fresh, ready, and excited. I thought I had found a mellow spot to record a little video, but then whole army of kids decided to join me, so I'm just going to relocate. There's several different studies that show that you don't get many benefits from a hard workout until about 10 days after the workout. This is how I personally taper for a marathon. 21 days out from race day, I'll run my last 21 or my last 20-mile, so that's 32 km run, and this is my last long hard workout. From here on, I start reducing my overall training volume. So 3 weeks out, in that week I'll do about 75 of my normal training volume. Then 2 weeks out from race day, so my second taper week, I'll reduce it to about 50% of my normal training volume. And then in that last week of race week, I'll only run about 25 to 30% of my training volume. Let's say as an example, my training was up to about 60 miles per week. So the 3rd week out from the race, I would cut that back to about 45 miles. The second week out, I would cut it back to 30 miles, and then at last week, I would run about 15 to 18 miles in total. So I cut back my overall frequency of my runs and my duration, but I still add a few higher heart rate workouts in there. I just make sure that I cut them shorter. During a taper, I make sure to cut out heavy lifting in the gym, and I also reduce the amount of time that I'm standing behind my standing desk. So typically I just lower it and I sit down a lot more. Also, I make sure I pay extra attention to my nutrition. When you're running 60 miles a week, you're burning a lot of calories, whereas if all of a sudden your training volume cuts back, you want to make sure you don't start gaining a bunch of weight because that will slow you down. The last 3 days before my race, I typically rest, and then the last day, just the day before, I actually go out for a short jog and I make sure to add a few strides in there as well. Now let's talk about one of my favorite elements from tapering before a race. When your body is going in full-on recovery mode, when you actually reduce the amount of training and the intensity, all of a sudden your muscles are recovering and your fatigue levels are actually improving. And you might start noticing things in your body as your muscles are recovering that you've never experienced before. I've personally, for example, had it that I put in a great training block, didn't have any issues or injuries, and all of a sudden I start tapering and I will start feeling a weird ache in my knee or in my calf, or all of a sudden I will start cramping out of nowhere. These are all things that are part of the process. Stay calm and you know that things are going to be okay. When your race day comes closer, it's totally normal for race day nerves to start kicking in. You might get that voice in your head that actually asks itself, 'Did I train enough for this race?' or 'Should I go out for one more long or hard workout?' Try to hold back that temptation because you might get injured. You might actually be more receptive to cold, to sicknesses right now. Just try to stay calm. I often look back at my training log. Personally, I use Strava, and so I go back through all of the different workouts that I've done throughout this entire training cycle getting ready for this race. And you realize, wow, you've actually put in a lot of time and effort and this one extra workout is not gonna do it. Also, I try to read a few of the different race reports that I've previously written. Not everyone writes race reports, but I can highly recommend after your next race, just write down a few thoughts. What went well and what would you improve in the next cycle? One other thing that I do is I actually try to visualize the race day and how the race is gonna go. Just repeating that, that visualization of the different steps that are going to happen that day will also help me calm down my mind. During that last week before your race, you'll be running a lot less than you're used to, and you're going to have extra time available. One thing I often do is I just go outside for a short little walk, or I grab my bike and I still go for a little bike ride. That way I'm outside in nature, and it definitely helps keep the positive vibes going. One other thing I do is during that last week, I usually meditate a little bit more or write down my different thoughts in a journal. During a taper, you might actually get antsy and you want to go outside and run really hard. That's actually a good thing. That means your body is recovering and you're mentally in the right place as well. The only thing is you have to be patient just a little bit longer. And I often see it like you're this happy dog that wants to go outside and play and you can't really go outside yet. Just wait, be patient, and race day is almost here. The main thing is to just stay calm and enjoy this entire process. I would love to hear from you. How do you taper, and what do you do to keep your mind calm and in the right place? Please let me know in the comments. Enjoy your taper and have an excellent race out there. You got this!
