Supplements for Runners — Running Nutrition | 6AM Run

You have done the miles. The long runs are in the bank, the workouts are done, and now there is nothing left to build — only fitness to reveal. That is what taper week is for. But here is what a lot of runners get wrong: the taper is not just about running less. What you eat in the final week before race day has a direct effect on how full your fuel tank is when the gun goes off, and a full tank is the difference between finishing strong and meeting the wall at mile 20.

This guide walks through exactly how to eat during taper week — what to emphasize early in the week, how to carb-load in the final three days, what to cut back, and how to handle the night before and race morning. Nothing exotic, nothing you have not eaten before. Just the right foods, in the right amounts, at the right time.

Why Taper Week Nutrition Matters

Your body stores carbohydrate as glycogen in your muscles and liver, and glycogen is the premium fuel for marathon-pace running. The catch: even a well-trained runner only stores enough for roughly 90 minutes to two hours of hard effort. A marathon takes most of us three, four, or five hours. Taper week nutrition has one main job — arrive at the start line with those glycogen stores as full as they can possibly be.

The good news is that the taper itself helps. Because you are running less, you are burning less glycogen day to day, so stores naturally rebuild. Pair reduced training with a deliberate increase in carbohydrate in the final days, and you can top off the tank to a level you simply cannot reach during a normal training week. Research on endurance athletes consistently shows that a proper carb-load can meaningfully extend the time before fatigue late in a race. It will not make you faster at mile 5 — it keeps you from falling apart at mile 22.

Days 7 to 4 Out: Eat Normally, Tilt Toward Carbs

The first half of taper week is not the time for a dramatic diet change. Eat the balanced meals that got you through training: plenty of carbohydrate, moderate protein for muscle repair, and normal healthy fats. If anything, tilt the plate slightly toward carbs as your mileage drops — think of it as shifting from about half your calories from carbohydrate toward 55 to 60 percent.

A practical day in this phase looks like oatmeal or eggs and toast at breakfast, a sandwich or grain bowl at lunch, a normal dinner like pasta, chicken and vegetables, and a snack or two you already know sits well. Keep your usual pre-run and during-run fueling on the shorter runs you still have — taper week is also your final rehearsal for race morning, so practice the breakfast you plan to eat on race day at least once.

One thing to watch: many runners feel strangely hungry or strangely flat during the taper, and both are normal. You are not losing fitness. Trust the plan you followed all season.

The Final 72 Hours: The Real Carb-Load

The serious loading happens in the last two to three days. The target most sports dietitians use is roughly 7 to 10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight per day — for a 70 kg (154 lb) runner, that is about 500 to 700 grams of carbs a day. That is a lot of food, and it is much easier to hit if you spread it across three meals plus snacks and carb-rich drinks rather than trying to eat two enormous pasta dinners.

Foods that make this easy:

• Pasta, rice, bread, bagels, pancakes, and tortillas
• Oatmeal, cereal, and granola
• Potatoes and sweet potatoes
• Fruit, fruit juice, and dried fruit
• Pretzels, graham crackers, and low-fiber snack bars
• Sports drinks and other carb drinks between meals

As the carbs go up, let fat and fiber come down a little. You are not avoiding them — you are simply making room. A giant salad or a very rich, creamy meal takes up stomach space that could hold glycogen-building carbs, and high fiber in the final 24 to 48 hours is a common cause of race-morning bathroom urgency. Keep protein moderate: a palm-sized portion at lunch and dinner is plenty in these final days.

Expect the scale to tick up a kilogram or two. That is not fat — glycogen is stored with water, roughly three grams of water for every gram of glycogen. That extra weight is literally stored fuel and hydration, and it is exactly what you want.

Hydration and Electrolytes During the Taper

Drink steadily all week rather than chugging a gallon the night before. Your urine should be pale yellow most of the day. Include electrolytes — especially sodium — with your fluids in the final two days, because water alone does not stay in your system as well, and you want to start the race fully hydrated rather than playing catch-up. Our full breakdown of how many electrolytes runners actually need covers the numbers if you want to dial it in.

Skip the alcohol in the final days. Even a drink or two can disrupt sleep quality and hydration right when both matter most. There will be plenty of time to celebrate after the finish line.

The Night Before and Race Morning

Eat your main pre-race dinner early in the evening, keep it familiar and carb-forward, and finish with a small carb snack an hour or two before bed if you are still hungry. We wrote a complete guide on what to eat the night before a marathon, including example meals and what to avoid.

Race morning, eat the breakfast you have practiced — ideally two to three hours before the start — built around easily digested carbs with a little protein. Our guide to what to eat the morning of a marathon walks through timing and portions. Personally, my race morning is simple: a bagel with honey, a banana, coffee, and my usual pre-run routine before I head to the start. Nothing new, nothing fancy — that is the whole point.

Have Your During-Race Fuel Plan Ready

Taper week is when you finalize — not improvise — your race-day fueling. Decide now how many grams of carbohydrate per hour you are targeting, what you will carry, and what you will take from the course. If you have not done the math yet, our marathon fueling calculator guide shows how to work out your per-hour needs.

On the day, I carry Marathon Gummies because they are easy to chew in small, steady amounts — a few every couple of miles rather than a huge hit all at once — and my stomach handles that rhythm far better than big gels late in a race. Whatever you choose, the rule is the same: fuel early, fuel on schedule, and never wait until you feel empty. And if you want the deeper strategy for the late miles, read our guide on how to avoid hitting the wall at mile 20.

Taper-Week Mistakes to Avoid

• Trying something new. No new restaurants, supplements, or "miracle" foods this week. Familiar beats optimal.
• Under-eating because you are running less. The taper only works if fuel goes in while training load drops.
• One giant pasta dinner and calling it a carb-load. Loading takes two to three days of consistently high carbs.
• Loading up on fiber and fat at the last minute. Keep the final day simple, low-fiber, and easy to digest.
• Overhydrating with plain water. Drink to pale-yellow urine and include electrolytes.
• Panic-training. One extra workout will not help you; it will only drain the tank you just filled.

A Sample Taper Day (Two Days Out)

Breakfast: Large bowl of oatmeal with banana and honey, plus a glass of orange juice.
Snack: Bagel with jam and a sports drink.
Lunch: Big plate of pasta with a light tomato sauce, garlic bread, and a small portion of chicken.
Snack: Pretzels and a handful of dried mango.
Dinner: Rice bowl with teriyaki salmon or chicken, cooked vegetables (keep them modest), and another carb drink.
Evening: Bowl of cereal or pancakes with syrup if you are still hungry.

Taper week is the reward for months of work, not a test you can fail. Eat a little more than feels necessary, keep it familiar, sleep as well as you can, and trust your training. You are not resting because you are lazy — you are loading. See you at the start line.