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You’ve trained for weeks, sweated, sacrificed—and now you’re supposed to do less? Welcome to perhaps the most paradoxical but effective phase of your preparation: tapering. In the last one to two weeks before the competition, the training plan slows down while your body ramps up. What many do with a guilty conscience is actually the key to peak performance.

What happens during tapering? 

The last 10 to 14 days before the competition are often the most nerve-wracking phase of preparation for many. Training is reduced, and the body gets more rest. Suddenly, your mind chimes in: "I’m doing too little. I need to train more." But the opposite is actually happening.

Tapering, the targeted reduction of training volume before competition, is not a step backward but the last major stimulus for performance. Numerous studies show that those who reduce their training volume by about 40-60% during this phase—while maintaining intensity—run noticeably fresher, faster, and more efficiently on race day.

A fascinating process takes place in the body during tapering that does not happen to the same extent during regular training:

• Muscular micro-damages are repaired, inflammation decreases.
• Glycogen and energy stores are fully replenished, and the body prepares for maximum performance readiness.
• Hormone levels normalize: stress hormones like cortisol decrease, and the immune system recovers.
• Neuromuscular control improves, making movements more efficient. 

The body uses this rest phase not to stop but to overcompensate. It becomes stronger than before.

Why you should ignore your guilty conscience

Tapering demands less from your body but more trust from your mind. Many runners feel like they aren’t doing enough during this phase. But this is precisely when discipline means being able to let go.

You won’t get fitter in the last few days, but you can lose everything if you start the race tired or overtrained. Those who start rested run with energy, clarity, and confidence.

Your guilty conscience can take a vacation because:

• You’re not training less during this phase, but more purposefully.
• You give your body time to optimally adapt to your training stimuli.
• You prepare mentally instead of exhausting yourself physically.

So: enjoy the rest. Trust the process and look forward to the moment when you stand at the starting line and realize—you are ready!