The New York City Marathon, undoubtedly the most famous in the world, will take place the first week of November. With that race just days away, it’s worth remembering what experts recommend for the final week of training.

What running.COACH recommends for the last week before the marathon

Our running.COACH app team emphasizes that the worst situation after months of preparation is arriving at the starting line with heavy legs. To avoid this, they recommend a tapering phase , which aims to achieve the ideal balance between recovery and maintaining performance .

During the two weeks before a marathon , the amount of training should be significantly reduced, but the intensity should be maintained . This helps your muscles recover without losing speed or competitive pace. running.COACH advises reducing:

• Total duration of training: between 60% and 80%.
• Weekly frequency: between 20% and 60%.

The exact reduction depends on experience level, age, weekly volume, and type of training. They also recommend including short, intense sessions at race pace , without overexerting the muscles, and paying special attention to rest: getting enough sleep is an essential part of the plan.

In summary:

• Start getting ready two weeks before the marathon .
• Reduce volume, not intensity.
• Sleep well, stay hydrated, and maintain healthy habits.
• It integrates regenerative measures such as massages or sauna.

Other recognized coaches:

1. The average plan is for a rest period of 2 to 3 days . This suggests that the authors aren’t recommending taking a complete break in the last week before a competition .

2. The average plan recommends running about 27 kilometers in the last week , plus the 42 kilometers of the competition (total: 69 kilometers).

3. Half of the plans don’t recommend activities the day before, while half do. Your best judgment should prevail here, although we must take into account the travel involved.

4. Regarding speed, we found two trends: one is to include a session with short repetitions, between 100 and 400 meters, or another to include speed training for a distance between 2 and 6 kilometers maximum. We can conclude that all coaches seem to agree that at least one speed workout should be done during the last week, and that it should be short. It remains to be seen whether these will be short repetitions or short distances.

Conclusion

There are elements here for everyone to make their own judgment and decisions. Each case is very individual. Some people are more tired than others, some are more suited to speed than others, etc. Don’t do what your teammate would do; do what you think will be best for you. If you’re following a training plan guided by a coach, follow their recommendations and don’t make any changes at this point.

How to train for the New York Marathon?

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