“The peaking process should prime all of the systems of the body to be optimally ready to perform on the given day.”
A little over a month ago, I used this column to talk about the training and preparations that our team members were undergoing in preparation for fall marathons. With much of the hard work in the rear view mirror, I thought it would be meaningful to check in and talk a bit about the final weeks of training, as many of our readers may be peaking for their own events, or interested in how we go about the process.
The most well-studied and commonly practiced approach to peaking is to gradually reduce the training load (volume) over the final stretch of the training, while maintaining or even increasing intensity of training. Some people call this the “taper” which is a term that I don’t particularly like. I prefer “peaking” or “sharpening” as it focuses on the purpose of what we are doing, whereas tapering seems to emphasize what we are not doing. For us, this reduction in volume usually occurs over the final three weeks. Others use a 10 days, 2 weeks or maybe even 4 weeks. The length can vary depending on how long the build up has been, how tired the athlete is going into it, and how severe the reduction is.
Generally, the shorter the peaking period, the more sudden and dramatic the reduction in training. We do things more gradually with the 3rd week out from the marathon being still a relatively heavy week of training. The mileage is maybe 80% of the peak volume, and the workouts may still be fairly long and hard. The next week is another step down, to perhaps 65-70% of peak volume. At this point, within the final two weeks, I don’t like to introduce any new training stimulus. We still have workouts that are challenging, but it’s nothing new or harder than what we have done before. We may execute these workouts faster than previous ones by virtue of being more fresh and rested, but we aren’t trying to run harder or longer than we have already done.
In the final week, we are definitely shifting to an emphasis on rest above work. In general, we still run most days, but the runs are shorter, and the two workouts that we do during the week are pretty light. We hit the same intensities that we have previously done, but do a lot less volume at that intensity. In the final week, we aren’t doing anything to try to get the athlete more fit. Rather, we let the fitness that has already been built show itself by emphasizing rest and recovery. Ideally, a reduction in overall life demands is helpful at this time as well, so avoiding heavy work weeks and other major stresses on race week is helpful if possible.
Going into race day, the athlete should feel rested, ready, and eager to get out and run. The peaking process should prime all of the systems of the body to be optimally ready to perform on the given day.
Chris Lundstrom is the head coach of Minnesota Distance Elite – formerly Team USA Minnesota – which includes some of the top distance runners in the USA, including Annie Frisbie, Dakotah Lindwurm, Breanna Sieracki and Joel Reichow.
