Greg McMillan: How to Master the Marathon Taper and Stop the Pre-Race Freakout

This podcast is sponsored by Charm City Run. Learn more and shop at www.charmcityrun.com!

Running coach, exercise scientist, and McMillan Running founder Greg McMillan joins Nicky to talk about one of the trickiest parts of marathon training: the taper. Drawing from his book Surviving the Marathon Freakout, Greg explains why he prefers to call it “peaking” and shares six guidelines for arriving at the starting line feeling rested, confident, and ready to race.

They discuss how much to reduce mileage, why you should keep some intensity in your training, and how to manage the mental spiral that often comes before race day. Greg also shares his approach to pacing, fueling, and creating a race-day thinking strategy, along with how understanding your runner type can change the way you train.

Plus, they get into aging as a runner, finding joy in the sport, practical race-weekend planning, and what to do after crossing the finish line.

Learn more about Greg's coaching, training plans, and running calculator at McMillan Running.

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