top gun maverick wrote:
you need to make your runs 30-40 seconds faster per mile than when you were doing high mileage. tapers are for getting faster not keeping same pace.
I gotta disagree. Nothing you do in these last couple of weeks will help you in the race. But you can do damage. Just as taking the weeks totally off would be counterproductive, running faster in the last days just adds stress and you don't have time for any training effect to pay dividends. It's a taper. So taper.
Run basically the same workouts and paces you were before the taper, but reduce distances. That is, if you normally do 8x1600 on Wednesdays, do half that two weeks out, but keep the same pace you normally run. So the pace is still there but the effort is reduced because of the reduction of miles. If your long run is normally 20 miles, cut it in half as well, but don't run it harder.
If you find that you started the taper too soon, then you will be able to use that knowledge next time out. But once you committed to this plan, you should follow through. Otherwise, you don't have any idea what worked and what didn't. It's all an experiment and you have to stick to the plan or any data gained is worthless.
Good luck my friend. I expect you will find that you are more ready than you feel. Tapers can suck, but if you relax and have faith, they can be awesome.