Marathon · 21-day taper
The marathon is the only common race where the taper matters as much as the training. Glycogen storage, neuromuscular freshness, and the immune-system rebound from peak weeks all happen during the final 21 days. Get them right and you arrive sharp; get them wrong and 16 weeks of work go nowhere.
This is the day-by-day plan we run inside SportPlan for marathon athletes — adjusted by the engine based on HRV, Body Battery, and load trend, but here it is in its template form.
T-7
Sunday before race-Sunday
Your last long run is short and conservative. If your peak long run was 32 km, run 18–22 km at easy pace. No new shoes, no new fuel, no marathon-pace insertions over 5 km. This run is about confidence, not fitness.
T-6
Monday
Optional shakeout at very easy pace. Sleep is the priority — aim for 8+ hours. Start paying conscious attention to hydration and electrolytes. Avoid alcohol from this point.
T-5
Tuesday
Light, short, with quick pickups to keep neuromuscular speed alive. Strides are NOT sprints — controlled, smooth, at goal marathon pace. Begin carb-leaning meals (60–70% carbs of total calories) without increasing volume yet.
T-4
Wednesday
Real rest day. If you can't sit still, walk easy for 30 minutes. No structured running. Sleep, hydrate, eat normally.
T-3
Thursday
This is the last running session that matters. Short, sharp, low fatigue. Race-day kit shakedown: wear your race shoes, race shorts, race top. Begin carb loading proper: 8–10 g carbs per kg bodyweight per day for the next 36–48 hours.
T-2
Friday
Easy 20 min jog or full rest. Eat carbs at every meal — rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, oats. Hydration check: urine should be pale yellow. Add a pinch of salt to dinner. Avoid any new foods or restaurants.
T-1
Saturday — race eve
Very short shakeout. Lay out gear: bib pinned, shoes, socks, body glide, watch charged, gels prepped. Big carb-rich lunch — your final big meal. Light dinner before 7 PM. Phone alarm set for 3 hours before gun.
Race
Race day
Wake 3–3.5 h before gun. Breakfast: oatmeal or bagel + banana + small coffee. 250–300 g carbs total in this window. 60 min before: 30 g carbs (gel or sports drink). 15 min before: optional second gel. Dynamic warm-up 10 min before. Start the first 5K at goal pace −5 sec/km. Negative split or even split. Take a gel every 30–35 min from kilometre 5.
From Thursday (T-3) lunch through Saturday (T-1) dinner, target 8–10 g of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight per day. For a 70 kg athlete that's 560–700 g of carbs daily — roughly double a normal high-carb day.
What works: rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, oats, bananas, white pasta with low-fat sauce, sports drinks, pretzels. What doesn't: heavy fats (cream sauces, fried food), high fibre (large salads, beans), spicy or unfamiliar foods, alcohol.
Expected: 1–2 kg weight gain by Saturday night, mostly water bound to stored glycogen. This is normal and good. Don't panic at the scale on race morning.
3 hours before gun: 1.5–2 g carbs per kg bodyweight as easy-digesting breakfast (oatmeal with banana and honey, bagel with jam, white toast). Add 200 ml water and small coffee if caffeinated.
60 minutes before gun: 30 g carbs as gel, banana, or sports drink. Sip water.
15 minutes before gun: optional second 25–30 g gel — only if you've practised this in long-run rehearsals.
During race: 30–60 g carbs per hour. Most athletes need a gel every 30–35 min plus sports drink at aid stations.
New shoes on race day. Race in shoes with 30–80 km on them, not zero. Brand-new shoes change forefoot landing, blister patterns, and stride length.
Tapering volume but not intensity. Volume drops 40–60%; intensity touches stay (strides, race-pace pickups). Pure rest produces sluggishness.
Trying new gels or breakfast. Race-week is the worst time to introduce new fuel. If it isn't in your long-run rehearsals, it doesn't go in your race.
Standing all day at the expo. The night before a marathon is not a tourism day. Be off your feet by 4 PM.
Going out too fast. The first 5 km of a marathon should feel embarrassingly easy. If you can't have a conversation at 5 km, you started too hard.
Volume drops are proportional, not absolute. For a 50 km peak athlete, race week is ~25 km. For a 90 km peak athlete, race week is ~40 km. The percentage drop (~50%) stays roughly the same.
Yes. Taper-week heavy legs are a real phenomenon — your body is reabsorbing inflammation and rebuilding glycogen stores. Strides during taper week help suppress the feeling. The freshness usually arrives 24–48 hours before race day.
Most coaches recommend 14 days, minimum. Alcohol disrupts deep sleep, dehydrates, and impairs glycogen storage. The race-week trade-off is not worth it.
Yes, but short. A 3–5 km marathon-pace insertion during your T-5 or T-6 easy run is normal — but never longer. The goal is rehearsing pace feel, not adding training load.
Mild head cold: continue with reduced volume. Below-the-neck symptoms (chest tightness, fever, body aches): see a doctor and consider DNS. The training is already done — race week can't add fitness, but illness can take it away.
SportPlan watches your HRV and Body Battery through taper week — if you're under-recovered going into Friday, the plan auto-adjusts. See your first week before you pay. €9.99/month, cancel anytime.
Ramon Curto designed SportPlan's endurance-training methodology from exercise-physiology principles. SportPlan applies it autonomously to the information you enter and the data you choose to connect; it is not ongoing one-to-one coaching or medical care.
Last revised July 2026