Tools › Taper calculator
RunningA day-by-day plan that cuts your running before a race while keeping your pace and your number of runs. Runs in your browser; nothing is saved or sent.
Use the average of your two or three biggest recent weeks.
Volume is how much you run (miles or minutes), intensity is how fast or hard, and frequency is how many days a week. A meta-analysis (a study that pools the results of many earlier studies) of 27 tapering studies found the best results in competitive athletes came from a 2-week taper that cut training volume progressively by 41–60%, with no change in intensity or frequency (Bosquet et al., 2007). A newer meta-analysis of endurance athletes found that tapering improved time-trial performance (how fast athletes covered a set distance), that cutting volume by 41–60% while keeping intensity and frequency worked, and that tapers of up to about three weeks helped, with about one to two weeks showing the largest effect (Wang et al., 2023). An earlier review recommends keeping intensity, cutting volume, trimming frequency by no more than about 20%, and favors a gradual taper over a sudden drop; performance typically improved about 3% (Mujika & Padilla, 2003).
Elite British runners reported tapering for about 6 days before races from 800 m to 10,000 m and about 14 days before a marathon (Spilsbury et al., 2015). In running-app data on 158,117 recreational marathoners, a steady three-week taper, with weekly distance falling each week, was associated with finishing about 5½ minutes (2.6%) faster than a minimal taper (Smyth & Lawlor, 2021). So our standard tapers are 7 days for a 5K or 10K, 10 days for a half marathon and 14 days for a marathon, with longer options of 10, 14 and 21 days. Runners with bigger weekly mileage tend to use longer tapers, so consider Longer if your mileage is high.
How we build your plan. Your daily running starts a little under your usual and falls a little each day, so the last day is about 40% of the first and the whole taper averages your chosen cut (50% by default). We keep your usual run days and your usual pace and cut the distance: tapers like this improved time-trial performance in studies of endurance athletes. The overall cut and the taper length follow the research above; how we spread them across the weeks and days is a sample layout you can rearrange to fit your week. In it, the long run shrinks each week, all your other runs are at least 2 miles (3 km), your usual quality session (your harder workout of the week, such as intervals or race-pace running) keeps its pace with about half the repetitions (the last one about 5–7 days before a marathon, 4–6 before a half and 4–5 before a 5K or 10K), and the day before the race is a shakeout (a short, easy run of no more than 3 miles or 5 km) with four 20-second strides (relaxed pickups to race pace or a little faster).
Put it into sleep, easy walking and mobility rather than extra sessions. For marathons and long races, your carb load falls in the last two days of the taper, and the heat pace calculator helps if race-week forecasts look warm. If you’re ill or injured, adjust the plan or see a clinician.
General information for healthy adult runners, not medical advice. If you’re ill or injured, or have a medical condition, talk to a doctor or a qualified coach before racing.