Marathon Advice to a friend who blinked for a minute…
First, you will run the Marathon. Ok now that’s the hard part. The following is just my opinion only your results may vary.
1. Long runs require planned pre hydration and sodium build up. Pasta, water, cliff blocs, 5 or 6 water stops.
2. Plan on running the marathon in phases(like your training) One 8 mile, One 12 mi and one 10k. All of which u have done in training many times. When u complete each of those walk for a few minutes. Take a strip of cliff blocs for each and a water bottle full of chia seeds(google that) 1 tbsp per 8oz
3. Heart rate seriously manage your heart rate I’m a 143-151bpm avg bothof my 20s were there–find out where you are and you can do this based on thinking about your breathing…winded too fast, able to talk while running just right or a little slow.
4. Training runs at 30 secs slower that marathon pace. Just to see how you feel and work out the mental setup it also allows the build up of your soft tissue.
5. I had calve cramps Charlie horses and difficulty during the marathon which f’d my time but it got pretty hot pretty fast and I got caught up in the first 10 mi. Over did it and posted a 5:22 shitty time and was in severe pain from 15 on that’s where your mental training shows up and drags your ass kicking an screaming.
Running mechanics
1. Forefoot landings and quicker cycling balance shortening of your stride this helps reduce heel striking…
2. No heel strikes at all feet under the pelvis (born to run book)
3. Shorten the stride and tighten your gate to prep for long distances
4. Higdon or Galloway book very good…do 2 20s before the marathon…trust me you will do this for mental preparedness…more than anything else this is where you get a little practice on how to deal with your body/brain conflict…can your body match your brain…
— some addtional notes to rummage through —–
as i think back over my 13s-14s and more and 2 20s in sept and there are some runs that did not pan out… those runs did feel bad…the thing that changed was…MY RUNNING GROUP WAS LITERALLY THE SOURCE OF MY SUCCESS THE REST OF THIS WAS GRAVY
a plan — 18 weeks for intermediate runner
sleep — a sht load toward the end
pacing — pick a speed
heart rate monitor over 13 miles — get one and run by it not by the time/pace stuff
ppl to run with — get that figured out early or you may struggle at higher mileage
mental prep — visualize the sections of the run in small parts and think about how you are likely to feel and what you might try to do to cope
trail work – crosstrain alot i did p90x strength days and road my bike to work a few times a week in the summer
barefoot running 1 run for every 3 runs under 11 miles each — personal pref
sodium, glycogen, fluids — understand how your body handles/burns/tells you stuff so listen on the long runs
rotation of 3 pairs of running shoes, asics, brooks, and saucony kinyaras for short distances.
You most likely are check for all of the above in some form. I reiterate you will run the marathon…my two 20s felt good but when i was done i was done… my 15 felt terrible and had horrifying cramps in my legs…during that run i realized I ran to fast early and was unable to recover for the later miles..
I have learned marathoning is not about speed…I repeat it is not about speed its endurance and plain old forcing yourself pass your own point of resistance literally mind of matter shit, dont track it dont care about it dont try to run in a certain pace group…just dont…dont listen to me and you will never be able to run it…mile 17 during the marathon was like a death march, watching gurnies and runners falling down and crying bleeding crapping themselves is definately decent motivation to keep moving surprisingly enough.
In the end that is the key element of my experience…keep moving but start slowly…if you run an 8 mi.mile 5k you should run a 9.30 min/mi marathon no faster…it doesnt matter what you say unless you are training like a Kenyan stick to slower for the first marathon.
anyways i am rambling here quite a bit…Please, Please do not drop out of the marathon training/or the marathon…if i can do it you most certainly can as well. Work a plan around your pain(s)…you will most likely run to fast and with the wrong geometry and not balancing your caloric burn rate and carb loads…
Ps Mega Red Fish oil is also part of some of the prep.
Good luck it was the hardest thing i ever did and ill do it again….still recovering 1 month later….
