In the last 3/4 weeks before the marathon, it is important to recognise that the bulk of the hard work has been done and there is little to be gained from hammering yourself in this time. You need to keep up a level of training though that will keep you ticking over and perhaps some shorter, sharper workouts to get your legs used to ticking over at race pace or quicker. Tapering for a marathon very much varies from person to person, but whatever you do, aim to feel as fresh as possible on race day ready to perform to your best. My taper usually begins 3 weeks from the race with a reduction in mileage from around 120 to about 85. 2 weeks out I still aim to run 60-70 miles and in the week leading up to the race around 35 plus the 26.2.

What you eat in the 48hrs before the race is also a very much a personal thing. Obviously a high carbohydrate content within the meals is desirable, but don't start eating alot of food that is alien to you as stomach problems on race day are not good!! I tend to keep my breakfast the same as usual, but on the Friday and Saturday make sure that I get alot of carbs in as well as keeping really well hydrated.

I'm not FLMing (or marathoning) this Spring - but I do hate tapering.

So far, I think I've messed it up every time - mainly by over-tapering - reducing my miles too much, eating too much and putting on weight.

Good luck to those of you out there tapering - enjoy the madness - and remember the rule is to reduce the miles only by 10-20% each week - don't join me and get carried away with the easy life!

Dan - when you say "shorter, sharper workouts to get your legs used to ticking over at race pace or quicker" - do you mean marathon pace or something faster like 10km pace? I'm asking this especially as marathon pace is quite slow for some of us - it's hard for me to make MP feel sharp.

My taper hasn't felt like much of a taper so far with 34 miles last week (inc a half-mara race) from a high of 42 but I am looking forward to this week's 26 and next week's 8-10. Plenty of intervals this week to make sure I don't take it too easy though...

Hollywood
In my taper, I would do sessions like 12 -16 x 1min at 3/5k pace with about 45 secs recovery, or 6 x 3mins at 10k pace with a minute recovery, quite a significant reduction in quantity but hopefully not quality. In the week leading up to the race I would just run steady, but on Tuesday will run about 55 mins with the last 12/15 mins at marathon pace.
Good luck

What sort of sessions are you running in your 120mpw Dan.
Great result in Melnourne!

I do pretty standard rep sessions usually on grass. 1 min, 3 min, 5/6 min efforts normally with shortish recoveries, 1 min or less. Would try to fit in 3 sessions a week and if poss have an easy day on Saturday so that my long run can done at a beter pace.

Gl to everyone here running the FLM.

I bow down with respect for all who run, and well done in Melbourne Dan. [ I am a relatively new runner ]

(sorry if this a little away from the topic)

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Dan, how do you approach resting when training? Do you take full days off or just adjust your pace to reduce the intensity?