Half marathon taper: how long and how to do it
A half marathon taper lasts about 7 to 10 days. The last long run of 10 to 12 miles lands roughly two weekends before the race; after it, weekly volume drops while you keep a few short pickups at goal pace. This page covers when to start, what to cut, what to keep and how many rest days to take. The generator below builds the step-down into the last two weeks of every plan.
When to taper for a half marathon
Start the taper after your last long run, which should be 10 to 12 miles and about two weekends out. From there the race is 7 to 10 days away, which is enough time for the legs to absorb the training without losing fitness. A three-week taper is a marathon habit; for 13.1 miles it leaves you flat.
The generator handles this for you: half plans end with a two-week taper in which the weekly total and the long run step down each week, and the long run finishes near half of its last value in race week. You can see the shape in the last rows of the 12-week plan.
Build your free half marathon plan
Same engine as every plan on this site, but with your race date, your run days and your longest recent run. Prints to PDF, exports to your calendar. No signup.
How to taper for a half marathon: what to cut and what to keep
- Cut volume. Shorter runs, the same number of them. Dropping run days entirely makes you feel stale; shortening them makes you feel fresh.
- Keep a touch of pace. A few short pickups at your goal pace in the middle of an easy run remind the legs what race day feels like. No new hard workouts.
- Keep the routine. Same shoes, same breakfast, same bedtime. The taper is the wrong week to try anything new.
- Expect restlessness. Legs that feel heavy or twitchy in a taper are normal; the freshness arrives on race morning, not on Wednesday.
Your goal pace, and the easy pace that fills the rest of the week, come from the half marathon pace chart or from the paces printed on your plan.
A 10 day half marathon taper, day by day
| Days before the race | What to run |
|---|---|
| 10 to 8 | Last long run at an easy pace, then normal weekday runs |
| 7 to 4 | Easy runs, each a little shorter than usual; one run with short pickups at goal pace |
| 3 and 2 | Short easy runs; lay out gear, confirm the start logistics |
| 1 | Rest, or a very short jog with a couple of strides |
| 0 | Race |
How many rest days before a half marathon
One. Take the day before the race off, or run for ten minutes with a few strides if you know a full rest day makes you feel sluggish. Two days out, run short and easy. A full week of rest is too much: the legs lose their rhythm and the first miles of the race feel wooden.
Do you need to taper for a half marathon?
If you trained for it, yes: the taper is where the training turns into a result. If you ran very little, the taper matters less than not cramming in the last ten days; a hard long run a week out does more harm than a missed one. Either way, the plan's last two weeks are the easy part, and the only job is to arrive at the start rested and bored.
Taper facts and numbers, with sources
Numbers from a review of taper research and from the race rules, with the generator's own taper for comparison. Sources checked on October 28, 2026.
| Fact | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Typical performance gain from a well-run taper | About 3 percent, usual range 0.5 to 6 percent | Mujika and Padilla, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2003 |
| How far volume can come down | Up to 60 to 90 percent, with training intensity kept | Mujika and Padilla, 2003 |
| How much to cut the number of sessions | No more than about 20 percent | Mujika and Padilla, 2003 |
| Taper length that has worked in studies | From 4 days to more than 28 days | Mujika and Padilla, 2003 |
| Half marathon distance | 21.0975 km, 13.1094 miles | World Athletics |
| This site's half marathon taper | 2 weeks: about 75 percent of the peak week, then about 50 percent in race week | RunMarathon plan engine |
Frequently asked questions
How long to taper for a half marathon?
About 7 to 10 days after the last long run. The generator's half plans use a two-week step-down.
When do you start tapering for a half marathon?
The day after your last long run, roughly two weekends before the race.
How many rest days before a half marathon?
One, the day before. Keep running short and easy on the other days.
Do I need to taper for a half marathon?
Yes if you have trained; cutting volume for the last week and a half lets the work show on race day. Keep a few short pickups at goal pace so the legs stay sharp.
How much faster will a taper make my half marathon?
A review of taper studies puts the usual gain at about 3 percent, within a range of 0.5 to 6 percent (Mujika and Padilla, 2003). On a 2-hour half, 3 percent is about 3.5 minutes.
Should I run fewer days during a half marathon taper?
Only slightly. The same review advises cutting the number of sessions by no more than about 20 percent while volume drops much further. Shorter runs on the usual days work better than extra rest days.
Exactly how long is a half marathon?
21.0975 km, or 13.1094 miles, half of the 42.195 km marathon (World Athletics). Certified courses are laid out slightly long, so your watch will often read a little over 13.1.