Training for a Marathon can seem like a daunting challenge. Surely to accomplish this goal we should be training as hard as we can for as long as we can, right? However there are risks that come with that approach to training.
S&C Coach, Andy Page offers advice on how to get the most out of your Marathon training and avoid unnecessary time out.
Know your body
As marathon lovers we all enjoy getting out for a regular run but do you know how your body will react to a serious increase in weekly mileage when marathon training?
Getting an overall Physiotherapy assessment, Strength & Conditioning plan or Podiatry review (for your running gait), can give you peace of mind that your training the right way for your body.
There’s nothing more frustrating than having to stop training in the weeks leading up to a marathon due to injury, but it is a common reason for runners to come and see us at Pure Sports Medicine. You wouldn’t get behind the wheel of a car without learning first how to drive and it’s much the same with training; being proactive before you start training is the most effective way to avoid losing that valuable training time.
Mix up your pace
The days of training with long distance runs only, are long gone (excuse the pun) and the modern runner will cover a variety of distances as part of their training. Too much volume (distance) has been correlated to Patellafemoral pain (knee pain) and IT Band syndrome in runners.
Doing a mixture of short runs at high speed (e.g 4 Sets of 4‑minute runs), threshold runs (2 x 20-minute blocks at a faster speed) and mixed interval runs (fartlek training) will improve your fitness quickly and keep you injury free. It is best to keep these types of runs on separate days.
Train your gut
Just like our lungs and our legs, our gut needs to adapt to the demands placed upon it. Race-day nutrition is often runners’ main nutritional focus. We’ve seen many attempt to eat as much as they can the night before for fuel, which results stomach cramps after 20 miles, affecting your pace and ultimately your overall time.
In the month leading up to the race, treat your training runs like mini marathons with your diet. Eat meals high in carbohydrates in the preceding 3 days and eat/drink at regular intervals during the training runs (e.g. every 5 miles if comfortable). The muscles need a few days of high carbohydrate food to be fully stocked. Additionally practising regular food intake on the run will help prevent that upset stomach on race-day.
The best supplement is a healthy diet
It is often overlooked in the search to shave off an extra few minutes from your PB, but a healthy diet during the training period will have a bigger impact on your time than any supplements.
The evidence for caffeine, beta alanine and sodium citrate is promising for endurance athletes but compared to healthy diet during training is insignificant.
A healthy diet will also help stave off cold and flu which is beneficial to avoid interruptions to your training, as becoming unwell (alongside making you feel awful) can mean your training plan gets paused and replaced with a week in bed — particularly since most people are training for the marathon during flu season!
Don’t panic
We’ve all been in the same position; it’s one month out from the big day and you don’t feel fit enough. The following week you crank out twice the distance of previous weeks to make up for it. But instead of feeling great and up to the challenge, you end up feeling stiff, sore and — at worst — coming away with an injury.
Chasing fitness is the easiest way to break down in the lead up to race-day, and a planned progression is the best way to ensure you are at your best on the big day. Only increasing mileage by 15% max week to week; planning an easy week (40 – 60% of your max distance) every month and avoiding too many hard runs in the last 2 weeks, is far more sustainable.
At Pure Sports Medicine we specialise in training for endurance events, so if you need any guidance please complete the form below.
