Marathon Training – top tips!

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A marathon is a uniquely challenging event. Whether you’re just aiming to get around or looking for an impressive time you’ll need to put in the training to tackle the 26.2 miles. Here are some top tips on how to get the most out of your training and avoid injury;

• Prepare – simply having the right running clothes can be very helpful and prevents the stress of trying to keep your only running top clean! Get the right kit for you and consider a GPS watch or running app. that helps you monitor speed and distance. More than anything though try and get some miles under your belt before you start your marathon training.
• Pick a schedule – find one that suits your experience and weekly mileage. Also be realistic and look to find a balance with family, work and social commitments. Many sites will make a schedule for you, Runner’s World has several free schedules and you can even download them to put on your GPS watch.
• Get the right mix – you aren’t aiming to be running fast all the time or to spend every run pushing your distance up. A mix of 80% low intensity and 20% higher intensity training is often recommended. For example, if you run 20 miles a week 16 of those would be relatively slow and 4 would be speed or hill work.
• Build up, step back – a continuing increase in weekly mileage can risk injury so many schedules build up mileage for 2-3 weeks then step back for one to allow recovery. My current schedule is 31 miles this week, 33 next, 35 the week after then back down to 28 – see below (schedule from SmartCoach by Runner’s World – click to enlarge).

• Have 1 goal for each session – slow means slow! Save speed work for speed sessions. Most schedules have 1 weekly long slow run but it’s easy to be tempted to run this more quickly. This isn’t really the idea. The long-run gives you time on your feet and helps you prepare for running for hours during the marathon. Doing long runs quickly also risks picking up an injury and will probably be detrimental to other training sessions. I made this mistake when training for my first marathon and picked up a series of niggles as a result. I also found that on race day, when I’d been running over 2 hours and had at least another hour to go that I had done no training that lasted nearly that long! I hit ‘the wall’ in a big way as a result.
• Don’t be a schedule slave – your schedule is only a guide and can be modified to suit your needs. It’s ok to miss a session or replace it with cross-training. Don’t try and overcompensate for missed sessions or run extra days to make up for it – cramming in extra runs can lead to injury or overtraining. Be flexible with your schedule and move things a little to suit you – your long run doesn’t have to be on a Sunday – what’s more important is that you allow enough rest between sessions. Be creative, we lead busy lives and it can be hard to fit running in. If possible, swap your drive home for a run home. If it’s too far, bus halfway then run the rest. It might add some time to your commute but often saves time compared to driving home then going for a run. Maybe you could be an early bird and get your run done before your family have even woken up? Or be a night owl, don the day-glow vest and run under the evening stars.
• Work out your pace – mileage is quite an easy training factor to monitor and manage during training but what about speed? It’s hard to know what your target pace should be for each run, some schedules will make recommendations for you but you can also estimate them using the McMillan calculator. You enter a race time and it will estimate pace for long runs, tempo runs and interval work – very handy! If you don’t have a race time you can either make one (by heading out and running a speedy 10k) or estimate pace on how you feel. On long runs, you should feel comfortable and be able to chat. Tempo runs should be challenging but manageable and interval work a step up from that – challenging and you couldn’t maintain it for more than a short distance.
• Rest – adequate rest is as important as running. Your body recovers and strengthens when you rest so make sure your schedule allows enough rest. If possible have a rest day after a long run or speed session and after strength work in the gym. Research has shown muscles can take 48 hours to return to normal strength after a 10km run. With high mileage schedules, you often find a steady build-up in fatigue making rest even more essential! Listen to your body if you’re getting lots of aches and niggles, feeling run down, on the verge of a cold, struggling to sleep or turning into a grumpy nightmare you’re probably in need of some rest and recuperation! More info here on deciding whether to rest or run.
• Embrace variety – it’s very easy to get into a habit of running the same routes during your training. They become familiar but also can get boring. Try some new routes and consider some trail running – the change in the running surface will give your body a rest from the road and might help settle any niggles.
• Find a friend – there are a host of supportive running clubs and groups that can add a great social element to your training and provide invaluable advice.
• Look after your body – try and include some flexibility work in your schedule to stretch out tight, aching muscles. This might be stretches after your run or a foam roller session once or twice a week. Also swimming, sauna or steam room can really help. Don’t underestimate the value of a little pampering – get a good massage done if you can afford it. It doesn’t have to be the painful deep tissue kind – often a relaxing massage can work wonders. Nutrition can also play a big part in keeping you healthy and looking after your immune system.
• Run the route – if possible try and run some or all of the marathon route during your training. Knowing the route helps to calm race day nerves and prepares you for what to expect on the day.
• Trial anything you plan to use on race day – race day is not the day to try out new trainers and untested gel packs! If you want to use something during the race try it when you train. This applies to shoes, drinks, energy bars/gels, running clothes and technology (e.g. GPS watches etc). Try not to become reliant on any one thing – mix up your kit a little then you have plenty of options on race day and won’t panic if your favourite running top gets mauled by the dog! It’s also worth working out what food works best for you before you run – don’t wait until race day to find out that a full English breakfast is not great before a marathon!
• Have a ‘practice race’ – if you’ve never raced before then the race day experience can be a bit daunting. Try to find a shorter race that fits in with your schedule (a half marathon is often perfect) and run that with the main aim being to test out kit and experience what a race entails. Many marathons (such as Brighton) have a half marathon that follows much of the full marathons course – this is a great opportunity to run the route and practice race day.
• Taper properly – tapering is essential to allow your body to recover from 4 months of training. It gives niggles the chance to settle and helps your muscles ‘refuel’ (they do this by building up glycogen levels which will be depleted by your training). Don’t be tempted to squeeze in an extra-long run to compensate for any you’ve missed. Better to start the race slightly undertrained than to be overtrained or injured! (More details below and in our article on tapering)
• Plan race day – tapering will allow you a little extra time to plan your race day. Shop for your pre-race food, energy bars and recovery drinks (if you use them). Make sure you have your race number and safety pins. Get your running kit clean and laid out ready. If you run with music sort a motivation playlist and if you have a GPS watch make sure it’s fully charged. Plan how you’ll get there and back and give yourself plenty of time. All this can make race day panic free and much more enjoyable – don’t wake on race day morning to realise your running kit’s in your locker at work, the only breakfast is leftover curry and the only way to attach your race number is with a rusty nail gun!

A few words from resident running coach John Feeney (who you can follow on Twitter – @John1_feeney);

• Taper – probably one of the most important parts of your training but often overlooked. The key is to maintain intensity but reduce volume by 40 to 60%. The frequency of training sessions should be maintained at around 80%. How to reduce the volume is very much dependent on the individual – i.e. linear taper = gradual day-by-day decrease in volume, step taper = reduce volume by a chunk, then training remains at the same volume before another chunk is taken away etc or finally a progressive taper = volume reduced quickly or slowly depending on the circumstances. I would suggest 10-14 days for a half marathon and a maximum of 21 days for a full marathon.
• Gym – don’t be afraid of replacing a run session with a workout at the gym. Resistance training (explosive strength training incl. plyometrics, traditional weight training & simple plyometrics) has been shown to have positive effects on the running economy (i.e. the oxygen cost of running at a certain speed). More info here on gym work and running.
• Drink milk – protein for muscle recovery is important. However, there is not always a need to buy expensive off the shelf recovery drinks. A glass of milk and a cheese/ham/egg sandwich with wholemeal bread is generally enough to provide sufficient protein for recovery.

More from John here on getting the most from your training and avoiding overtraining.

Hopefully, you won’t need it but here are our top 10 tips on managing running injuries. My final word of advice is to make sure you ask for help if you need it. Fellow runners are often really supportive and have lots of useful tips and advice and if you pick up an injury seek medical advice quickly. Often the right treatment can stop an injury from ruining your running.

And finally…Good luck with your marathon!