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We all know that tapering before a goal race is important to perform at your best. But should you taper before a tune-up race?

Run wicked fast marathonahs!!! #bostonmarathon #bostonstrong A photo posted by Jason Fitzgerald (@jasonfitz1) on Apr 18, 2016 at 8:04am PDT

That’s the topic of episode 24 of Q&A with Coach – where I take your personal questions about racing, injury management, pace strategy, and all things related to training.

Today’s question comes from Kevin:

I’ll run a tune-up half marathon four weeks before my marathon. Do I semi-taper for that one (like 3-4 really easy days)? Or do I keep the same mileage like I would do if it was just another long run on sunday?

This is a fantastic question because it’s important to run a good half before a marathon. While it’s not necessary, it does have several benefits:

You can practice racing (it’s a skill, after all)

More experience going through your race day routine

Your finishing time provides an excellent benchmark of your fitness, allowing you to further refine your marathon goals

And all of these benefits help with overall preparation for a marathon, just like with a properly planned season (here’s how to do that).

But a tune-up race is not a goal race. So should you taper beforehand? Or not at all?

The answer (of course) lies somewhere in the middle:

Show notes:

:40 – Kevin’s question about tapering before tune-up half marathons

1:10 – The traditional taper approach before a goal race

1:30 – The number of easy days before a tune-up race

1:55 – The benefits of this “hybrid” tune-up approach

2:15 – The benefits of a tune-up races

3:15 – What does a full taper look like?

4:10 – The Taper Rule

4:30 – An example tune-up and taper schedule for a goal 5k

5:30 – What if the tune-up race itself is an ultramarathon?

6:15 – Other variables to manipulate to feel your best on race day

Do you have a question about your training that I can help you with? Email me or shoot me a line on Twitter and I’ll get your question featured!

How I Prepare for a Tune-up Race

I thought it would be helpful to share the training I did before the 2014 Rock n Roll half marathon in Washington, DC – which was my tune-up before I ran the Boston Marathon.

Here’s my daily mileage the week leading up to the race:

This is how it was structured:

Monday: 5 miles easy (I was at a wedding the weekend before and was tired from dancing and wine!)

Tuesday: 10 miles easy in the morning with 7 miles in the evening. Ran 4x15sec hard during the final mile of the 7 miler.

Wednesday: 14 miles with 2 x 3200m at tempo (last 200m of each 3200m @ 5k Pace). The volume of fast running was reduced before the half.

Thursday: 10 miles easy

Friday: 5 miles easy with 4x15sec hard during the final mile

Saturday: HM tune-up (check out this action shot)! Ran 3 miles to warm-up and cool down, with 4 strides before the race.

Sunday: VERY easy 11 miles

So, what did I do here?

First, I didn’t cut the mileage before the half. It’s the same as it would have been if I wasn’t planning on racing 13.1 miles that Saturday.

But, with a wedding the weekend before, I ran my last long run on Wednesday of the prior week. So I did get extra rest in that way.

And perhaps most importantly, I did reduce the intensity of training before the half marathon. The five days before the half included 51 miles but only four of those were hard.

The result was my 3rd fastest half marathon ever with a 16th place finish in 1:14:05. With a proper taper, I probably could have set a PR!

For more on tune-ups, check out my article Practice Makes Perfect: How to Run a Tune-up Race.

And if you’d like to learn more about how to plan your training season, download our free Season Planner Worksheet.

Best of luck to our marathoners this spring – run smart and finish strong!