At the peak of his training, marathon runner Brent Tisch was covering 50 miles a week.But don’t expect to see the Munroe Falls resident on the road much right now.With the Akron Marathon one week away, it’s time for athletes to become couch potatoes.Conserving energy is crucial, said Hal Higdon, the Long Beach, Ind., author of Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide.Higdon, who is scheduled to speak in Akron the day before the race, offered tips for runners as the clock winds down to the big event.Some 15,000 folks are expected to participate in the run this year, most of them tackling the half marathon or making up five-person relay teams.Half-marathon runners should be tapering their training as well, Higdon said, while relay runners probably just need a couple of days off right before the race.But the 2,000 taking on the full 26.2-mile course should have started slowly cutting back a couple of weeks ago, Higdon said.In this final week, he recommends jogging a couple of miles Monday and Tuesday, complete rest Wednesday and Thursday, and maybe a two-mile run Friday to loosen the legs. Stay away from biking, swimming and strength training.“All the serious training should already be done,” Higdon said.Tisch, who will turn 45 next Saturday as he enters his fourth Akron Marathon, qualified for the 2012 Boston Marathon at the Cleveland Marathon this year using Higdon’s training program.He has been a Higdon convert for years, and recently upgraded to the advanced program, which he hopes will improve his personal Akron record of 3:23 to 3:15 or better.The day of the Akron Marathon is also the first day runners can qualify for the 2013 Boston Marathon, which Tisch hopes to do. He would need to finish the Akron race in 3:25.“Akron to me is a tougher course. I’ve had a hard time when I get to mile 16,” Tisch said. “The Sand Run part of the race really took its toll in the past.”In addition to changes in his training, Tisch said, he’ll change his eating habits.“I’ll really start carb-loading about four days out,” he said. Translation: Pasta for lunch and dinner.Higdon said runners don’t need to be calorie counters, but they do need to cut back on total intake this next week.“If you’re running fewer miles, you’re burning fewer calories,” he said.If one mile of running burns 100 calories, then cutting 75 percent of your weekly miles can really add up.But Tisch is right in that most of a runner’s calories should come from carbs.The “golden standard” throughout training is 55 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat, 15 percent protein, Higdon said. This week, push the carbs percentage even higher.“Carbohydrates burn more easily. It’s a more efficient form of fuel,” Higdon said. “It’s like having 100 octane gas in your tank rather than 70.”Tisch said he’ll also drink more water this week.If the extra hydration helps his performance, it’s not obvious to him, he said, “but I do it because everybody says to.”Higdon said hydration is good, but don’t overdo it.Five years ago, serious runners were trying to down eight liters of water a day, but that leaches out electrolytes and sodium and even contributed to a condition that killed some folks, he said.“We’ve gotten smarter in the last several years,” Higdon said.Running is a mental game as well. Recreational participants don’t need to know the course before they embark on it, but marathoners seeking personal records should take a look at the route so there are no surprises.“It’s nice to know if there is a big hill at Mile 18. You want to be prepared for it so it’s not a shock to the system,” Higdon said.Friday night before the race, runners are usually too excited or worried about getting up on time to sleep as well as they should.That’s why it’s important to sleep extra long Thursday night, Higdon said.“You need the energy that sleeps gives us,” he said.Most folks will take their final meal Friday around 6 p.m., but add a small snack before bed. It could be a fluid like Gatorade.Also, top off the tank in the morning, but early enough that the food has time to digest.Everyone’s body is different; for Higdon, that last meal comes three hours before the race.“I would do orange juice, maybe coffee, maybe carbs like a Danish or bagel, just so you top off the glycogen (energy) stores,” Higdon said.Definitely stop drinking two hours before the race, unless you want to pull off the course for a rest stop.But take a bottle of fluid to the starting line. Down it immediately before the race begins and keep yourself hydrated throughout the race.Higdon has been running and writing about running for half a century, participating in his first marathon in Boston in 1959. He has been a contributor to Runner’s World since 1966 and has written 35 books.He will give a presentation about the history of running and modern training techniques at the Health & Fitness Expo at 4 p.m. Friday at the John S. Knight Center, 77 E. Mill St. in downtown Akron. Admission is free.Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.