Monday: The schedule says three miles. If you feel like using this as an extra day of rest, take it. According to Tom Grogon, a coach from Cincinnati: "One problem that often develops is that people in training sometimes use these easy/lower mileage weeks to do something else equally stressful." Grogon recalls one tapering runner who rebuilt his barn and another who spent his "rest" time swimming and biking--and none of these activities exactly qualify as resting. Grogon recommends using the extra time to catch up on family and work responsibilities.

Tuesday: Track workout: 4 x 400 meters, jogging or walking 2-3 minutes between. Stick with 5-K pace. You barely want to break a sweat doing this workout. Its purpose is merely to loosen you up. Maintain the same quality of the workout, but drop the quantity. I want you to walk away from the workout knowing you could have done much more. And mind what you eat this week. Stick with a high-carbohydrate diet throughout the week. You don't need to eat spaghetti all seven days: Focusing on fruits, vegetables, and grains will keep you above 60 percent carbos even if you have lean meat as a main course. If you haven't eliminated between-meal junk snacks, do it now."

Wednesday: As you do an easy two-miler, remember that the last days are critical to the final taper. Some comments on diet, a very important subject this last week because of the necessity to stock your muscles with fuel-efficient glycogen. Robert Eslick, a coach from Nashville, says, "I tell my runners to watch their intake for the first three days of the marathon week to avoid weight gain and then to eat a little more than their normal intake, with the emphasis on carbohydrates, the last three days." Sound advice.

Thursday: No more fast or even easy training. Today is a day of rest. The last three days are critical to the final taper. Usually, I rest two days and do some light jogging on the third. In this schedule I advise that you rest Thursday and Friday with a final easy run on Saturday, the day before the marathon. You can juggle these days to suit your own temperament. Carbo-loading begins in earnest today. Pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals, fruits. Don't make radical changes in your regular diet, but now is not the time for filet mignon. Cut back slightly on your intake of calories, since you will be burning fewer calories in this final tapering week.

Friday: Get a good night's sleep tonight. You may have more difficulty sleeping tomorrow night because of nervous anticipation. Also, you may need to get up early Sunday to get to the start on time. For this reason, your Friday night's sleep is even more important than your Saturday night's sleep. I say "Sunday" and "Saturday" assuming that your marathon race is on the former day. But some marathons are held on Saturdays. "Rocket City" in Huntsville, Alabama and "Grandma's" in Duluth, Minnesota come to mind. If you're running a Saturday marathon, move everything up one day.

Saturday: Do a couple of miles running to loosen your muscles, including a few strides run at marathon pace, walking or jogging between. My approach to the last three days before the marathon is to run on no more than one of those days--and it could be on any one of those days. Usually, however, I like a final shakedown workout the day before. Quoting again from Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide: "There's no longer any room in your training plan for hard, fast, or long runs. Forget them. If you run anything at or near race pace, don't run far. (The day before a marathon), I enjoy doing 'strides,' which are controlled sprints at race pace. But by definition, strides are short: 150 meters at the most. Soft surfaces are best. Instead of jogging between strides, I'll walk."

Sunday: Marathon day. Put into application everything you've practiced. You're probably going to have a lot of built-up energy because of 18 weeks of anticipation. For that reason, it is important to be very cautious the first few miles--and those few miles after the first few miles. Don't throw away everything you've worked for by going out too fast. Remember to drink plenty of fluids, and drink before you get thirsty. St. Paul once said, "Do you not know that those who run in a race, all indeed run, but only one receives the prize? So run as to obtain it." (St. Paul, 9:24) I don't know, Pauly, that message might have been accurate 2,000 years ago, but if you were around today and had an opportunity to experience today's mass-participation marathons, you might agree that more than one runner receives the prize, or benefits from their participation. Regardless of whether you expect to win a prize in today's race, take St. Paul's advice and run so as to obtain it. There's not much more I can say other than this is the day and the moment for which you have spent 18 weeks. Remember everything you learned over those weeks. And have a very good day!

 

Tip of the Week: Smile as you cross the finish line. More important: Don't punch your stopwatch until a few seconds later, while you're in the chute. You want to look good for the finish-line photo.

How to Improve: If the advice encountered here is helpful, you should consider obtaining a copy of Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide. It's not too late, and we use Priority Mail to get copies to runners within two to three days of when they place their orders. To order an autographed copy of this and other books by Runner's World's best writer go to Books by Hal Higdon.

Copyright © 2001 by Hal Higdon. All rights reserved.