Simple Fueling for Taper Week

You made it! The hardest physical work is officially behind you. As your mileage drops, you might feel that itch to keep pushing. Fight that urge. Here’s the truth: your instinct is to exercise to get fitter, but at this point, more training won’t make you stronger. It’ll just wear you out.

The taper is where your body finally gets the rest it needs to absorb all those months of training. This is when your muscles repair, your energy systems recharge, and your legs get fresh again. You need well-rested legs full of energy on race day, not tired legs carrying the weight of one more “just to be sure” workout. And the last thing you want is to risk an injury in the final week that sidelines all your hard work.

As Coach Alex Mororrow from Resolute Running in Birmingham, AL, put it on our Mealvana Endurance Podcast: the work now isn’t done on your feet, it’s done at the dinner table.

The Biggest Nutrition Mistakes Runners Make During Taper

Here’s where things get tricky. As your training volume drops, you’ll notice something: you’re less hungry, you’re not burning as many calories, and you might worry about gaining weight. This is where most runners stumble.

Mistake #1: Eating Too Light Because You’re Training Less

This is hands-down the biggest mistake we see. Your first instinct is to cut calories since you’re running fewer miles. It makes logical sense, right? Wrong. Your body is still working hard during taper, just in a different way. It’s repairing muscle damage, replenishing energy stores, and preparing for race day. All of that requires fuel.

If you drastically cut calories, especially carbs, you’re basically hitting the brakes on recovery. You’ll show up on race day with partially filled energy tanks, and that’s when you hit the wall around mile 20.

Mistake #2: Cutting Carbs and Loading Up on Protein

Some runners think taper week is the time to “lean out” by cutting carbs and eating more protein. Not now. While protein is important for muscle repair and should stay steady, carbohydrates are your priority during taper. Your body stores carbs as glycogen (your fuel tank), and the taper is when you need to fill that tank to the brim.

Mistake #3: Losing Consistency

You’ve been fueling consistently for months. Don’t change everything now. Taper week isn’t the time for a new diet, intermittent fasting experiments, or cutting out food groups. Stick with what’s been working.

The Real Cost of Cutting Calories

Here’s what many runners don’t realize: if you lose 5 pounds during taper week, you’re not getting faster. You’re likely losing muscle mass and depleting glycogen stores. That weight loss might feel good on the scale, but it’ll cost you minutes on race day.

Coach Alex reminds his athletes that it’s completely normal (and actually desirable) to gain a couple of pounds during race week. That’s mostly water binding to stored glycogen, not you “getting out of shape.”

Why Recovery Fueling Matters

Your body stores carbohydrates as glycogen. Think of it as your fuel tank. As we covered in our 4-week fueling guide, many runners experience “hitting a wall” around mile 20. That’s your glycogen running out.

The Science Behind It

During taper, your goal is to top off that fuel tank completely and even slightly overfill it through something called supercompensation. But here’s the catch: this process needs energy [1]. If you drastically cut calories, especially carbs, you’re basically slowing down recovery and preventing your glycogen stores from fully recharging.

The bottom line: Your body needs fuel to repair itself, not less food. Keep your overall calorie intake relatively stable, but intentionally shift what you’re eating to prioritize simple, high-quality carbohydrates.

The Smart Way to Carb-Load: A Shift, Not a Stuffing

Forget that old-school image of gorging on massive bowls of pasta the night before the race. That’s a recipe for stomach disaster. Modern sports nutrition takes a much smarter approach: a controlled, proportional shift that starts about three days out.

Here’s How It Works:

Based on research and Coach Alex’s guidance, you’re not dramatically increasing how much you eat (which risks GI issues). Instead, starting about three days before your race, you systematically change the percentage of calories coming from carbs, from your typical 45-65% during training to around 65-75% during the final 2-3 days before race day [2]. In practical terms, this means aiming for 8-12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight in the final 24-36 hours before your race [3].

You do this by gently reducing your portions of fats and proteins while keeping your overall meal size about the same.

Want to do the math? If you’d like to calculate your exact carbohydrate needs based on your body weight and race distance, check out the carb-loading calculator at Featherstone Nutrition. It’ll give you personalized targets for your 2-3 day carb load.

Keep it Simple and Low-fiber:

As race day gets closer (especially the final 24-48 hours), prioritize simple, low-fiber carbs. Here’s why: fiber and complex fats slow down digestion [4]. The last thing you want is undigested food sitting in your gut on race morning. That’s a major cause of race-day bathroom disasters.

He also said, “Switch to simple, easily digestible carbohydrates like white rice, white potatoes, and white bread. These move through your system quickly, preventing GI distress on race day morning.”

Runner-Friendly Meals for Taper Week

Your taper meals should be quick to make, easy to digest, and simple to repeat. Think clean comfort food that hits that 70% carb target without unnecessary fiber or fat.

1. Simple chicken and white rice bowl: The classic for a reason. A large portion of cooked white rice with a smaller portion of basic baked or boiled chicken breast. You can add a small amount of steamed, skinned zucchini or peeled carrots, but keep the oil, spices, and sauces minimal.

2. Baked sweet potato toast: Slices of baked sweet potato (or white potato) topped with a bit of butter, jam, or cinnamon. Great earlier in taper week. In those final 24–48 hours, switch to peeled white potatoes or white rice if you know you’re sensitive to fiber.

3. Oatmeal with banana: Oatmeal cooked with water or skim milk, sliced banana, and a small drizzle of honey. During the final 48 hours, skip the nuts and seeds (they’re high in fiber and fat).

Lock It In! No Experiments This Week

By taper week, your fueling plan is set. No new gels, drinks, or last-minute “magic” products.

👉 For a full breakdown of the “nothing new” rule (including GI distress, kit rehearsal, and travel tips), see our 4-week fueling guide.

Want More? Coach Alex dives deep into carb-loading percentages, the do’s and don’ts of tapering, and more in our episode. Listen to the full episode here.

References

[1] Hawley, J. A., Schabort, E. J., Noakes, T. D., & Dennis, S. C. (1997). Carbohydrate-loading and exercise performance: an update. Sports Medicine, 24(2), 73-81.

[2] Kortebein, K. (2022). Taper nutrition and carbo-loading for your next goal race. Athlos Running. https://www.athlosrunning.com/post/taper-nutrition-and-carbo-loading-for-your-next-goal-race

[3] Burke, L. M., Hawley, J. A., Wong, S. H. S., & Jeukendrup, A. E. (2011). Carbohydrates for training and competition. Journal of Sports Sciences, 29(sup1), S17-S27.

[4] de Oliveira, E. P., Burini, R. C., & Jeukendrup, A. (2014). Gastrointestinal complaints during exercise: prevalence, etiology, and nutritional recommendations. Sports Medicine, 44(Suppl 1), S79-S85.