The Reverse Taper: Training for Back to Back Marathons

Running a marathon is so special and rare that a marathon finish is guaranteed to already land a prominent spot in the highlight reel of most people’s lives. As has been said, only one in a thousand souls finishes a marathon in their lifetimes. But to some who are fortunate and daring enough to do multiple marathons, one could easily be a very lonely number. Boundaries have to be pushed farther, the bar raised a notch higher, the horizons made brighter and richer. After my maiden marathon, I now find myself in this situation, having already signed up not just for another one or two, but three more marathons making four the number of marathons to run this year. Maybe even five, if I keep up with that lucky number superstition!

Absurd? Crazy? Dangerous? Maybe, but not to worry. If you are in a similar boat, there's plenty of good company. There's a group, for example, calling themselves the Marathon Maniacs. In their book, running three marathons in 90 days is good enough only for an entry level membership. What about the elite members, occupying the highest echelons of nine membership categories? They must run at least 52 marathons within 365 days. That's a marathon a week, every week, for an entire year! No buts, ifs, and excuses. Just run Forrest. Just run!

But are these multiple marathon goals doable, much less safe? After all, most running coaches and sports medicine experts recommend doing only two marathons a year, at most. The primary reasons are to mitigate the risk of incurring a lingering injury and to allow the body, physically and emotionally, to recover fully after each marathon event. The rule of thumb is one day of recovery per kilometer (km) ran if one is over 40, or one day per mile ran if one is younger. Since a marathon spans 42 km, full recovery would take 42 days or 6 weeks. And since another round of marathon training would usually last 18 weeks, a total of 24 weeks of recovery plus training or a full 6 months would be needed between any two marathons events. Thus, the two marathons-a-year recommendation makes perfect sense!

But what if you decide to go anti-sense? To break the rules, in a manner of speaking, though there aren’t any of these cast in stone? In my book, the first things to ascertain are your resolve and your fitness level. How badly do you want to run the next one? Are you not just showboating, doing a marathon stunt to impress? Did you injure yourself the last time around? Does your body recover fast? If you have strong enough reasons, something only you can decipher, and you are so far injury-free and recovery-friendly, then I’d say go the distance! In doing so, remember that you were at a peak level of fitness during your preceding marathon. Thus, you do not have to start from scratch. But first, follow a recovery regimen the week following the first event – no running, plenty of carbs and protein, enough hydration, and lots of rest and sleep. By the second week, you should be ready to roll. You can increasingly run longer and faster following a reverse taper plan, defined as the doing the reverse of what you did during the 2-3 final weeks prior to the first marathon, and then tapering again in the final 2-3 weeks prior to the second marathon - a retaper.

In my case, I am using a regimen patterned after the recommendations of noted writer, runner, and long-time Runner's World contributor Hal Higdon. With five weeks between my first and second marathons, the plan calls for me to run up to 10 km on weekdays and up to three hours during the weekend and then do a retaper in the final two weeks. I have incorporated a 21 km race into the second weekend run and hope to run the longest run this weekend at high altitude. Will this work? Only time will tell. No matter, I will keep listening to my body to avoid injury. As every runner should! Remembering all the while that, many times, it is not just finishing that counts but also how we run, enjoy, and give the marathon our all.