By Chris Kovalchick
Race week is here! On Monday, I, along with over 30,000 runners from around the world, will descend upon Hopkinton to take on the most fabled marathon course in the world, the Boston Marathon. The culmination of months of training all boils down to a mere few hours on a single day. What will the race hold in store? How will this year’s race enter the lore of the 120 editions which have taken place before it? More on that later – but for now, let’s talk about the last three weeks and the final phase of preparation for the big event – the taper phase.
The taper phase is probably the one phase that most people are familiar with. In summary, the taper phase is where I work on recovering the body from the grueling weeks of training in the previous phases while preparing to be in peak shape on race day. Over the course of the three-week period which started with my last major long run (24 miles on March 25th) and ends on race day, I decrease both my overall weekly mileage as well as my long run distance each week while focusing on key workouts to keep my body tuned and fresh. There are various philosophies for how long a taper period should be. The period of time I utilize is 3 weeks, which is probably the most popular amongst distance runners. In the past, I have experimented with 2 and 4 week taper periods as well, but have found 3 weeks to be the right combination of optimal recovery without losing the fire in my legs.
A simple way to look at the taper phase is that there is not much more you can do to be in better shape for race day, but there is a whole lot you can do to ruin your race. It is a difficult time for a runner because your body is in major flux coming down from all that hard training. Your entire metabolism and sleep latency goes haywire because of (believe it or not) the energy you are not expending due to less training volume. It is also very difficult mentally as self-doubts about preparedness for race day enter in. Typically for me, the first week of taper is one of my worst weeks of training. I generally feel lethargic and sluggish, and even the easy runs feel labored sometimes. One example of where I developed some doubts myself was on a workout during taper week 1. The workout called for 10 miles at goal-marathon pace (5:55-6:00 min./mile) with a 2-mile warm-up and 2-mile cool-down. I did not feel particularly strong that day and despite completing the workout at the target pace, it didn’t feel smooth like I expected. “How on earth will I hold this for 26.2 miles?” I thought. That’s the mystery of distance running – somehow you just can, despite all the ‘what if’s?’ you run through your head in the weeks leading up.
One of the key targets of my taper is that my last hard workout is done 10-11 days prior to the race. This workout was done last Thursday, April 6th – 7 miles at goal marathon pace with a 3 mile warm-up and 3 mile cool-down. There is strong exercise physiology data to support the hypothesis that any hard training done in between 10 days out and race day yields no improvement in fitness. In fact, it does exactly the opposite. I will continue to do short workouts inside the 10-day window, but nothing more than 3-4 miles at goal marathon pace to keep the legs fired.
Some of the most key elements of taper are the non-running factors which I employ to give myself the best chance at a big day on Patriots Day. There are about 50 things that have to go exactly right to have a perfect race, and about 30 of those are out of your control (like race-day weather/wind/precipitation, eating something rotten the day before, work obligations the week prior, family emergency). However, there is plenty that is in your control in addition to how you train, and I go as far as I can to optimize all of them. Some of these include:
- Hydration. I drink incredible amounts of water, especially the week of the race. There is no substitute for being hydrated, especially if the weather looks to be excessively warm (like this year!)
- Alcohol. None. There is no value added in alcohol consumption of any type for performance, so I cut it out completely.
- Nutrition. Well-balanced meals are a must. The week of the race, I try to load up on carbohydrates the entire week. There is a myth that one should ‘carb-load’ the night before the race. This is a poor idea –your body is not used to excessive carb consumption and you will pay for it the following morning. Carbohydrate loading should be done slowly over the entire week prior.
- Sleep. As much as possible. I aim for an extra hour each night over what I am used to (thankfully we have a baby who sleeps well when he’s not sick!).
I try not to choose a race goal time until closer to the race, although certainly I have an idea of where I want to be (as you can tell from following along for the past few months). That said, I’ve dialed in to targeting a 2:38 goal time on Monday, which is just over 6:00 min./mile pace. My goal will be to hit the halfway point in about 1:19, with hopefully a 1:19:30 in the 2nd half. It is very hard to run a negative split on this course (a negative split is where the 2nd half of the marathon is run faster than the 1st half of the marathon), due to the downhill nature of the first half and the Newton hills in the 2nd half. The weather is looking a bit warm, but we also will have a tailwind which is a huge help. If you’re going to be out there watching, enjoy the day and take in the spectacle of Patriots’ Day. I’m bib #497 and leave Hopkinton right behind the men’s elite field at 10 am. I’m looking forward to a great day and hope to see you out there!
Chris Kovalchick, who credits the hallowed training grounds of Bedford as a key cog in his running routine, serves on the Bedford Trails Committee and is a Land Steward for the O’Connor Conservation Area.
Read Chris’s ealier training journals: An Inside Look, Part 3 — An Inside Look, Part 2 — An Inside Look, Part 1
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