CLINIC
If you’re planning a spring marathon, you’ll probably have come across the term ‘tapering’, or reducing training in preparation for the day itself. Can tapering reduce injury and improve performance?
YOUR EXPERT
Sports Injury Fix member Pippin Hackett is a musculoskeletal physiotherapist specialising in running, as well as founder of Keep On Running Surrey (keeponrunningsurrey.com), treating runners returning from injury (sportsinjuryfix.com)
+ It takes determination, discipline and a dose of good luck to reach the start line of a marathon, having clicked the button to register several months earlier. The mental stamina and physical endurance required by runners, of all levels and abilities, to commit to a marathon training plan and to prioritise it, while juggling demands of employment, family, friends, injury management and a pandemic, should not be underestimated. I applaud each and every one of you.
Having come this far, I urge you to weigh as much gravitas on the tapering stage of your plan, which is the progressive reduction in your training. This can be challenging and might require the most self discipline yet, as the urge to push to the very end is strong. However, as counterintuitive as it feels, reducing your training in this final phase is considered the best way for you to avoid those curveball injuries and to give you the chance of your best finish yet.