Tips to get through your marathon in the best possible time and condition:

By Joe Chawke (The expert: Running Coach and Runner) and

Eamonn Horgan (The Bluffer: Long Distance Triathlete and Runner)

October 10th 2006 – updated sept 2007

The following are the combined tips gained from Joe Chawkes years of experience as a runner and coach and by Eamonn’s more recent experience as a long distance Triathlete (twice Ironman finisher, 3 times half Ironman and 2 times marathon runner). Joe’s experience is from years of quality running and formal coaching and Eamonn’s tips come from a fast forwarded learning curve through taking on the Ironman distance events which force athletes to scrutinise every aspect of their avg of 10-16 hour race, analysing race nutrition, heart rate and progress over a whole day event and the pitfalls experienced through this steep learning curve.

By now you will have followed a training programme that has suited your needs, fitness and lifestyle and has hopefully brought you injury free to this point. Some of you may either be going incredibly well and have shown good form in recent races, others may be still struggling to meet their true potential. For the those going well we aim to help you continue your success without reaching peaking too soon before the race, and for those who feel there is still more to be achieved, we hope we can bring together your race on race day. Some of the most amazing marathon finishes have come from athletes who have been recovering from injury and poor fitness, only to obliterate the rest of a fit and strong field on race day - so fear not – the marathon is not impossible, its not even that hard, with the right race preparation it can be as easy as a 5 mile easy run. As long as you respect the distance over the whole entire course, know your body and know your body’s nutrition requirements and focus on your race throughout the last week, you’ll far exceed your best expectations.

New addition following my fathers successful completion of last years marathon with 6-7 weeks training starting with 2x 2 mile run/walks for week 1: Just in case people think this article might be too advanced and that they just want to finish – this can apply to all, no matter what speed you are running. Last year my father ran over 10 miles for the first time ever during his first ever marathon, which was also his first every road race. He was 61 and not a runner by any stretch of the imagination –reasonably “life-fit”, 6”0’ and just under 12 stone, non smoker, non drinker but not a runner. About 7 weeks before the marathon he decided to take it on and commenced training on a 2 mile loop with a walk/run strategy. 6 Weeks later we very evenly upped his distance to 8 miles on the long run with a maximum weekly distance of 18 miles in total on the longest week. We worked out a steady race plan for the day which involved a walk run strategy from about the ten mile marker. He reached the half way point in just over 2 hours and finished the last 6 miles with a “strong fast striding for 10 mins and running for five”. With this strategy he was passing many who were jogging while he was fast walking. On the day he finished in 5.03hrs, and not a limp or a wobble in the legs the next day. The key to this short training but successful marathon was regular intake of fluids and calories on race day with proper pacing. The marathon is not particularly hard – its how hard you run it is what makes it difficult – run it too hard at the start and it will be the most difficult thing you have ever done - take it nice and easy all day – drink loads and run well “within” your limits and you’ll be far more successful than you thought possible…….remember “nothing is impossible”. My father followed the basic rules as set out below and applied them to his training and his own race goals. So they work no matter what level you are at.

Nutrition and Hydration :

Studies have shown that 2% body weight-loss, due to not drinking enough, during exercise/racing results in your endurance being reduced by 22% and your body’s ability to absorb oxygen (VO2MAX) decreases by 10%. So if you loose say 2% body weight (eg1.4kg for a 70kg/11 stone runner) over the course of a marathon then, if your target time is 4hours, you will effectively end up doing a 5 hour marathon if…… you don’t properly hydrate and take in vital energy and salts during the race and also through out your training.

Too little or too much food and fluids before the race and your doomed before you start, and too little or too much food and fluids during the race and your also doomed – so how do you get the balance right?

The week leading up to race-day:

  • By this time you should have gradually cut your training times down to 25-35% of your normal training week. Cutting down over a period of 3-4 weeks may seem excessive but 75% the first week, 60% the next, 40-50% the next and finally 25-35% on race week will really get the body in fine shape for the race. You won’t loose speed, but you will gain stamina and energy for the race
  • eat normally and healthy; don’t radically change your diet into that of a health freak just cause you have a marathon in 7 days time – Your body will not be able to adjust to providing energy from the new diet in one week and will leave the muscles drained of vital energy. (A radical change in your diet can take up to 2 months to readjust to providing energy for the body.)
  • Eat good healthy breakfasts, good sized lunches and medium evening dinners- do not over eat this week at all – Normal, regular healthy meals.
  • Give the chipper, Mac D’s, The local Chinese/Indian etc and over processed foods/sauces a skip this week or even month – save the treats for after the marathon!
  • Drink plenty of fluids, juices, etc during the week and stay hydrated. Avoid going to the pub for numerous pints – however one glass of red wine with dinner or relaxing in the evenings over the week will do no harm and has even proven to be beneficial to athletes – plus it can help you increase sleep and to relax.
  • Try using Dioralyte: “DIORALYTE” is a sachet of electrolytes available in all chemists used to restore the bodies natural salt levels and used to help people re-hydrate quickly and effectively – 1 sachet per 200ml water works wonders and is much easier than drinking litres and litres of water all day! It only costs 80 cent per sachet and comes in a three flavours – Citrus is probably the best of the them.
  • Don’t get a full body sports massage the week before unless you are in need of urgent attention for a particular ailment. A vigorous massage will leave the muscles sore and sucking vital energy and minerals and fluids from the body to repair the sore legs after the massage. A very light rub 7 days before the race could be beneficial but make sure it is purely a light rub and not deep muscle or vigorous.
  • SLEEP and RELAX…… VERY IMPORTANT
  • try and increase your sleep this week by ½-1 hour of sleep per night and try an put off any stressful issues at home or at work for a week or get them completed 2-3 weeks before the marathon.
  • Try and avoid any excessive travelling or driving in the final week.
  • Turn off CSI and go to bed early instead
  • The best recovery for the body is done while sleeping

2 days before race day:

  • THIS IS THE BIG “REST AND EAT” Day – No training today!
  • “CARBO LOAD”all day – ie big breakfast, big lunch and big Dinner and a good supper of foods rich in carbohydrates
  • Eat foods such as porridge, pasta, pancakes and syrup, Lasagne, pizza, Brown Bread, brown or basmati riceetc;
  • Avoid eating too much meat dishes though and keep away from creamy sauces, get them “on the side” (for those racing NY/Boston/)
  • Avoid white starchy breads and starchy white rice ; ask for Brown or Basmati instead
  • Better to eat “wholegrain” breads and “Wholegrain” cereals to optimise the slow energy release properties of these foods.
  • It will take about 36-48 hours for the body to convert the food you’ve eaten into useable energy on race day – Hence the Carbo loading is done 2 days before the race and not the day before
  • Carbo loading the day before will leave the body, bloated, sluggish and leave the body having to digest a stomach full of food and run a marathon

1 day before the race:

Go for a light run today – 3-4miles or 15-20 mins equivalent but really really easy. Pick up the pace evenly a few times in this run up to predicated race pace but only for 10-20 seconds each time – just to wake the muscle and nerves up!.

  • Today eat normal-light meals – You’ll have eaten all the required energy the day before hand to be processed by the body ready to provide energy into the legs the next day
  • small-med breakfast , med lunch and light evening meal – salad or something – no big meat dish the day before.
  • Stay Hydrated through out the day with energy or electrolyte drink.
  • Instead of water, add in a fruit juice or something; too much water will flush the body of vital salts and minerals that you’ll need during the race.

Morning of the race -

  • Try and not eat too much solid food on race day – it won’t be as effective as liquid energy/calories as you’ll only end up carrying undigested food around with you on the run.
  • Have a very early breakfast (about 2-3 hours before race start )
  • Small bowl of porridge/pancakes ( or 2-3 slices of Rye Bread with “nutella” works wonders for me when I don’t have access to a kitchen, but ya can’t beat a bowl of Porridge for the day)
  • Reason for early breakfast – ideally you will go to the bathroom 1-2 times that morning and ideally you’ll not be carrying any digested and non-digested food in the stomach that could cause stomach cramps during the race; plus its weight you don’t need to be carrying – the energy is already in your legs by this stage; its just waste food you are carrying now – so try and go to the toilet – the nerves should help things along too! Anymore energy you’ll need on the day will ideally be gotten from Liquid calories/drinks along the race.
  • Drink a Glass of Dioralyte (as above), maybe mix up 400ml and drink slowly over breakfast, but 200ml will do just fine.
  • About an hour before the race start sipping 500-600ml of your preferred sports drink (See below for details on sports drinks and gels)
  • 25-20 mins before race start take a gel with 150-200mls of water. (See below for details on sports drinks and gels)
  • only use a sports drink or gel that you have trained with; don’t experiment on race day

Sports Drinks

  • Energy Drinks: There are many brands of energy drink on the market so make sure you train with and try them out before deciding to use them on race day. Ideally sports drinks have 6-8% carbohydrate concentration which allows them to be absorbed into the body 30% faster than water and provide a steady stream of energy to restock spent energy stores. Some also contain electrolytes sodium, potassium, minerals that are lost through sweat (even on cold windy days) and very important for fluid retention – REMEMBER – LOSS OF FLUIDS= LOSS OF ENDURANCE AND PERFORMANCE! But make sure your read the labels and look out for sodium content especially
  • The ideal amount of fluid to be taken in per hour is anywhere from 400-800ml per hour. This can be hard on race day , but drinking a full water bottle (150-200ml) bottle at each aid station (usually about every three miles) should get you most of the way to your fluid targets. – Studies show that replacing 80% of weight/fluid lost is an achievable target;
  • Typical commercial sports drinks contain 30-36grams of carbohydrate per 500ml;

More specialised carbo drinks can contain more per 500ml. You need approximately 60g of Carbohydrate per hour so additional gels will be required to supplement drink intake.

  • High 5/Powerbar/Gatorade/SIS/Lucozade Sport are just a few of the more popular drinks on the market
  • The drink should have about 6-8% carbohydrate and many also contain vital electrolytes as you find in Dioralyte, ie Sodium/magnesium etc which are vital for rehydration and proper body/muscle function. You can be fitter than you ever were before, but without the required salts and energy in the muscles the legs just won’t move.

Sports “Gels” or “Goo’s/GU’s”

  • These are small sachets of high concentrated carbohydrate/Glucose that provide instant energy.
  • There are various brands on the market and again it is vital you try and train with these before race day as they can be particularly disruptive on the most solid stomachs if you have not used them before –
  • They must be taken with water too, and never at the same time as a sports drink. Why? Too much sugar/cals too quickly- taking together can cause cramps or even vomiting!

Some of the best Gels available that I have used over the years (and I’ve tried them all) are:

  • “Enervit” –60ml Cheer Packs – provide 240cals per packet- Really easy on the stomach too and nice to taste!
  • “SIS” Science in Sport Pre-Hydrated Gels – Sports and Cycle Shops;
  • Both gels above are easy on the stomach gels: You can get away without taking water with these 2 above , but just about though, so its still advised to wash down with water; You need to take on fluids anyway so you may as well wash down with plenty of water.

Others on the market and easy to get

  • Powerbar gels (also given out on race day in Dublin I believe at mile 13 or so and other specific aid stations)– loads of flavours – available in Cycle Shops and many sports shops
  • Lucozade Sports gel range – Available in sports shops/”Boots” Chemists and shops
  • Maximise Gels - Cycle Shops mainly

Another Option to take in extra calories areEnergy sweets.

  • These sweets work great – just pop one under the tongue every 10-15 mins and let it dissolve pure energy straight into the blood stream –great if the stomach is revolting against the gels; Boots Brand or Lucozade; available in Chemists

During the race:

  • You must eat and drink fluids during the race; otherwise the body will run out of vital glycogen energy reserves and you will slow down and “hit the WALL”, or else you’ll experience reduce endurance and VO2MAX performance by 20%/10% respectively which you don’t want either.
  • You can avoid hitting the wall through proper pre-race nutrition and proper calorie intake during the race.
  • You should be fine for the first hour, as you will be carbo loaded from 2 days before, hydrated properly all week and at breakfast and then 1 hour before the race with your sports drink and the gel just before the race.
  • Then after 1 hour start taking either the gels (They hand them out at different points along the course, or you can carry your own preferred choice in a race belt) or bites of energy bar if you are going with some solid food options along the way:
  • Drink water at every aid station even at the start of the race; if its small 250ml bottles no harm in drinking it all
  • “GELS MUST BE WASHED DOWN WITH ABOUT 100-150MLOF WATER” so take the gels just before each aid station and wash down immediately with water.
  • Once you start taking gels/sweets etc you must continue taking at regular intervals of 10 mins for sweets or 25 mins for the gels, or else you’ll get sugar highs and lows – so keep the sugar levels up all through the race once you start taking it in – plan to take a get every 3-4 miles or every 20 mins – otherwise you’re in for an emotional roller coaster all day, brought about by sugar high’s and low’s.
  • Also if you are feeling that you are slowing down or even loosing interest/concentration it is most likely a sugar low, take a gel or drink some carbo drink and you should feel pepped up in a few minutes.

Pacing in the race: