Why the taper matters more than you think

Fitness is built during training, but it is revealed during rest. Those long Sunday runs along the Great Glen Way and the wet Tuesday night hill reps have already done their work. What your body needs now is space to absorb it. During a hard training block, you accumulate small amounts of muscle damage, deplete glycogen stores and keep your nervous system permanently switched on. A taper reverses all three. Most runners find they gain somewhere between two and three per cent in performance from a well-executed taper — over a hilly half marathon or a full marathon in the Highlands, that is the difference between a good day and a great one.

It also feels deeply unnatural. You will have more energy, more time and a nagging voice telling you to squeeze in one more long run. Ignore it. The work is banked.

How much to cut back — and when

The golden rule is simple: reduce volume, not frequency. Keep running the same number of days each week, but make each session shorter. This maintains routine and keeps the legs ticking over without adding fatigue.

• Marathon or ultra: three weeks. Cut volume by around 20 to 25 per cent in week one, 40 per cent in week two, and 50 to 60 per cent in race week.
• Half marathon: two weeks of tapering is plenty, with a similar percentage drop.
• 10k or hill race: seven to ten days is enough.

Your final long run should land roughly 14 to 21 days before race day. For a marathon, cap it at two to two and a half hours. For a half, 90 minutes is ample. After that, nothing longer than an hour is needed until you are standing on the start line. Resist the urge to add a big day "just in case" — it will cost you far more than it gives.

Stay sharp with short, purposeful intensity

A taper is not a shutdown. Dropping all intensity leaves you feeling flat and sluggish on race day, so keep a little sharpening work in the mix.

• Early taper: one quality session per week is fine. Try six reps of 60 seconds uphill on a forest track at 5k effort, jogging back down for recovery, then ten minutes easy to finish.
• Mid taper: swap the session for eight strides of 30 seconds on grass or a flat trail, with full recovery between each.
• Race week: two short sets of strides — four reps, two days out — is all you need. Keep them relaxed and quick, never straining.

Every session should feel controlled. If you finish and think "I could do that again", you have got it right. Now is not the time to test new shoes, new gels or a new breakfast.

Tapering on Highland terrain

Reducing mileage does not have to mean sitting indoors. Shorten your routes rather than abandoning the hills and trails that make training here such a pleasure. A 45-minute loop on a favourite woodland path near Aviemore, or an easy out-and-back on a quiet glen road, keeps the legs familiar with the underfoot conditions you will meet on race day.

Use the spare time productively. Recce the start and finish if you can, check the forecast and think about layers. In the Highlands, weather can shift fast: a bright morning can turn into horizontal rain over a single pass. If a storm rolls in, do not chase paces on an exposed hill. Run by feel, keep the effort easy, or drop to a sheltered loop instead. Wind, bog and midges all cost energy, so shorten sessions rather than grinding through something longer than planned.

Rest, food and taper madness

You will almost certainly develop a phantom niggle in the final ten days. Welcome to taper madness. It is almost always nothing, and it usually vanishes the moment the gun goes.

• Sleep: aim for an extra 30 minutes a night. This is the single most effective recovery tool you have.
• Eat normally: do not diet. Keep protein steady, then increase carbohydrate intake in the final 48 hours.
• Move gently: walking, stretching and easy mobility are all useful. Heavy cross-training is not.
• Stay busy: plan your kit, write your race-day timings, sort your drop bag. Idle hands breed doubt.

Race week itself

Keep it boring. Two or three easy runs of 20 to 30 minutes, a short set of strides, and a rest day. A 15-minute shakeout the day before, with four relaxed strides, settles the nerves and reminds your legs what fast feels like. Eat a familiar, carb-rich meal the night before, lay your kit out, and rehearse your morning routine so nothing is a surprise.

On the start line, trust the process. You have done the miles in wind, rain and midge clouds. The taper has done its quiet work. All that is left is to run.