Southland Marathon

So you want to complete a marathon or half marathon. You realize that there will be times when you wonder why you took up the challenge, you will hurt, and you will spend a lot of time on your feet. And that’s just the training. Still want to do it? Great, as the satisfaction and fitness gains will make it all worthwhile. When you reach the finish line you won’t feel any pain. Just pride. That’s a promise.

Building fitness is a gradual process. What happens on the day is determined by what you do in the weeks beforehand. Not training because it’s too cold, too wet or you’re too tired will catch up on you come race day.

Before you start on the training programme there are a few rules you should consider.

The conversation rule. Training runs should be at a pace that allows you to carry on a conversation. If you can’t talk you are running too fast. Anyway, running and chatting with friends is fun and makes the time go faster.
Hills rule. A trip to Forest Hill, Bluff, Riverton or Sandy Point every so often will be worthwhile.
Keep off the road rule. Road and concrete surfaces knock legs around. Sandy Point tracks are ideal. Queens Park has great running but instead of following the paths, run on the grass, under the pine trees or on the edge of the golf course.
Be patient rule. Doing too much too soon will get you fatigued, not fit. Big training distances are not necessary but consistency is. Do not increase distance or time run by more than 10 per cent each week. 10 per cent increases a week will more than double your mileage within 7 weeks.
Hard-easy rule. Training will not make you fitter. It is the recovery after training that gives fitness gains. No recovery, no gain. So always follow a hard training day with an easy day.
Hydration rule. Your body needs liquid before you start to feel thirsty, so drink regularly and often. Water is good, sports drinks are better. (Water contains no electrolytes or carbohydrates, sports drinks do. While water is fine before and during a run a sports drink is preferable after your run to restore glycogen levels and replace electrolytes lost through sweat.)
Longest run rule. Your longest run in any week should be approximately one third of the total weekly training distance, e.g. if your week adds up to 30km, the longest run should be 10km. If you measure your running by time rather than distance the same rules applies – a total of 3 hours training in a week means the longest run should be approximately an hour.
Training to run rule. Do not race your training or your training mates (see conversation rule).
Walking is OK rule. If tired, walk. Walk a lamppost, run a lamppost or walk a minute, run a minute is a good way to start. As you gain fitness reduce the walking and increasing the running.

Self Control

Whether you are running the half or full marathon or racing it, there is a need for self-control. Excitement and adrenalin can easily have you starting out far too fast – every minute you are ahead of schedule at half way will have you five minutes or more behind schedule at the end. This means you must develop pace judgement, the ability to determine how fast you are running. Pace judgement is also critical in training. Training too fast is worse than training too easily and when some faster efforts are included in the programme you will need to ensure they are run at the right pace.

So, work out a few kilometre points on your favourite running routes. Identify a point (a tree, lamp post, letter box) 1 kilometre from home, measure a point 5 kilometres from home and perhaps have a few other marks on the route allowing you to check your pace as you go. If you run in Queens Park it is one kilometre from Feldwick Gates to the corner of SBHS playing field, and 3 kilometres if you turn right and take the path behind Boys High, run up Queens Drive and down Gala Street (along Gala Street edge of the grass) back to Feldwick Gates. Before long you will have a good idea of your running pace.

It will also pay to run 3 or 5 kilometres at your planned marathon or half marathon pace. (Divide hoped for time by 21.1 or 42.2). This may have you revising your goal time.

The Importance of Rest

Here’s something to think about – training does not get you fitter. Something else to think about – the more you train the less fit you become. So why train? Simply because it is the recovery from training that gives the gains.

By training you stress the body then when you ease off or rest the body recovers and bounces back a little higher than before. Without rest or recovery there is no improvement. Keep stressing the body without the recovery and your fitness goes down and keeps going down. This is called overtraining.

The idea then, is to follow a hard training day with an easy training day. The principle also applies to training weeks, which means every so often there is a need to step back a little and let the body refresh itself and consolidate the training gains made. An accepted and proven system is three or four weeks of increasing effort followed by an easy week. However, it is recommended that it is the volume you cut back, not the intensity. So make sure you include an easy week in your running. Here’s a way of doing it while still including some faster running.

For the technically inclined the session is called anaerobic threshold training. For the not so technically inclined it is called running a little faster and simply means upping your normal training pace or effort slightly for 20 minutes or so. Ideally this should be at your marathon or half marathon race pace. So, on your recovery week replace one of the easy runs with 20 to 30 mins at your goal race pace. You’ll need to do a 10 to 15 min easy warm up run and similar warm down, with the effort in the middle. Don’t know your goal pace yet? Then run at a pace that just and only just, takes you to the point where you can no longer continue an on-going conversation as you run.

For everything else, halve running times and or distances from previous week, keeping all these runs well within your “conversation pace”, i.e. can talk as you run. The threshold run can be done every second week, alternating week about with the VO2max session described in the next section.

Up the Ante

There is a need to add what some people refer to as “speed work”. In reality it’s not speed work at all. Speed work means running at top or close to top speed and of course, in a marathon or half marathon you never get anywhere near top speed. What you need is sustained effort over a prolonged period.

But first, a little physiology. Without going into the complexities of metabolic reactions, the first and foremost of running is oxygen. Your training is geared to delivering more oxygen to the muscles – increase the amount of oxygen and you increase energy production, allowing you to run faster and/or longer.

A session that trains the body to take in and use more oxygen, and involves running a bit faster than usual should be a regular on your programme. This has you running at your 3000m or 5k race pace, which is considerably faster than marathon or half marathon pace. As you are running faster you will need to take regular rests. Hence the term interval training.

The session involves running 3 to 6 intervals of 1000m at 5k race pace with a 2-minute rest between each. Don’t know your 5k race pace? You could do a 4 or 5 kilometre time trial and note the kilometre rate for next time you do this session then run 1000m intervals at that pace. Or you can work out a suitable 1000m time by multiplying your goal marathon or half marathon kilometre rate by 90%. For example, your aim is to run 2 hours for the half. That comes to 5.40 per kilometre. Multiply that by 90% and you get 5.07. So run each 1000m around 5 mins to 5.10. You should be able to do the last interval in the same time as the first – if you slow down drastically it is time to stop. Always do a 10 to 15 minute easy jog before and after your intervals. This type of training could be included every second week, alternating with the anaerobic threshold from week 5 on (i.e. when you are fit enough to handle the extra pace).

A Bit More

This is when the mileage goes up. Now it is time to add another 10 per cent to your last week total. And, you can replace one of your rest days with an easy run.

Last week remember, you added some slightly faster pace running into your week. We do it again this week, but rather than the 5k race pace intervals of last week we go back to the marathon pace anaerobic threshold run of two weeks ago – remember it? Simply run 20 to 40 minutes a little harder than normal. Ideally it should be at your marathon or half marathon goal pace or just at the point where you cannot continue a conversation should you run a fraction faster. The point where you go from being able to talk to not being able to carry on a conversation is actually your anaerobic threshold pace. A good anaerobic threshold training session is to run 20 mins at that pace, jog slowly for 5 minutes then do another 20 minutes at your threshold.

The Most

This is you biggest week in the build to your marathon or half marathon on November 9th.

If your longest run an hour seven weeks ago when we started the gradual increases should have you up to 1 hour 45 mins plus by now. Of course, if your longest run seven weeks ago was less your long run this week would be less. The shorter runs will have gone up too, with an easy 20 minutes run 7 weeks ago now an easy run of 35 to 40 mins.

However, there is still your effort session to include in the week – this week a VO2max session. The purpose is to train the body to take in and use more oxygen – increase the amount of oxygen to the muscles and you increase energy production.

The session involves running 4 to 6 intervals of 1000m at your 5k race pace with a 2-minute rest between each. Don’t know your 5k race pace? You can work out a suitable 1000m pace by multiplying your goal marathon or half marathon kilometre rate by 90%. For example, your aim is to run 4 hours for the marathon , a running pace of 5.40 per kilometre. Multiply that by 90% and you get 5.07. So run your 1000m efforts in around 5 mins to 5.10. You should be able to do the last interval in the same time as the first – if you slow down drastically it is time to stop. Always do a 10 to 15 minute easy jog before and after your intervals.

The Taper - The Last 4 Weeks

A marathon taper (easing up to freshen up) should be 28 days. Long runs destroy muscle fibres and frazzled muscle fibres are not the best for supplying oxygen to create energy that creates movement. It takes around 28 days for muscle fibres to repair themselves, hence the 4 week taper.

Tapering and boosts fuel stores, reduces muscle damage, improves muscle power and strength and improves the neural system which leads to better coordination therefore you run more efficiently, i.e. use less energy.

And don’t worry about losing fitness. It won’t happen. Providing you have a good base built on a number of weeks of long runs, reducing volume and increasing intensity (speed of runs) actually improves performance.

A taper also has psychological benefits: as you freshen up confidence improves and you tend to look forward to your run or race. “I’m ready, let me get into it” is usually the reaction.

Faster running does not have the same damaging effect on muscle fibres as long runs. So from four weeks out you need to reduce volume but maintain or increase intensity. Longest runs should be no more than approximately 12 kilometres maximum

The tapering period should have an extra effort day added. Previous weeks had either an anaerobic threshold (bit faster than normal) or VO2max (lot faster than normal) session (See Tip 4 and 5). The tapering period should include both.

Drink

In the last two weeks there is not much you can do to improve fitness but there is a lot you can do to ruin it, and this includes overtraining. As discussed in an earlier column, fitness gains are made by stress followed by recovery - by training then allowing the body to bounce back. Everything from now on is recovery. Too much training at this stage is counter-productive.

Make a point of practising drinking as you run. Staying hydrated is most important and requires regular intake of water throughout the event. Your body needs to get used to this. So carry a bottle on your easy runs and have water available at your rep sessions. If you decide to take an energy or replacement drink, try it in training and see if it causes problems. It shouldn’t, but you do not want surprises such as stomach cramps during the race. If in doubt, stick to water.

Train the Brain

Here’s some points to think about – the mental aspects of running an event such as the Ascot Park Hotel Marathon or Half Marathon.

First is safety. It is easy for the mind to wander away from the here and now when the concentration is on getting to the finish, particularly when tired. For safety’s sake it is important that you pay some attention to traffic. As you run assume that drivers have not seen you, keep as far as possible to the side of the road, be careful approaching side roads, and check driveways as you run – drivers backing out of a driveway will not see you coming. And follow the instructions of marshals on the course – they are there to help keep you safe.

If running the marathon, do not run 42.2 kilometres or 21.2 if entered in the half. Rather than take one big bite, take a number of smaller nibbles and run 5 kilometres, then another 5, then another 5. Concentrate on getting through the each 5 kilometres and when that is achieved, focus on the next 5. Or if you prefer, break it down into 20-minute segments and focus on each segment, one at a time.

Pace judgement is most important. Even with experienced runners adrenaline can have the early pace too fast, so take note of your time at the first km mark and if necessary, ease back. It is better to start too slow than too fast. Every minute ahead of schedule at half way could lose you 5 or more at the end.

Do not think about the finish. Concentrate on the “now” and think about maintaining good running form, staying relaxed and running at the right pace.

Here’s a good way of thinking about it: you do not listen to a piece of music for the express purpose of getting to the end, you enjoy and appreciate it as you listen. So look on the race as a favourite song and enjoy it as you go.

Last Minute Preparation

When the training is all done and you’re two or three days away from the big day there is absolutely nothing you can do to improve your fitness. So do nothing. The easiest way to ruin the work you have put in is to be on the start line tired. The best training over the last few days is rest.

For peace of mind it pays to pack everything the night before then check it. Be sure to include warm and dry clothes to put on afterwards. Pack Vaseline to put on toes, inside of thighs and arms and nipples to reduce blisters and chafing. Include a cap, just in case it is particularly cold – a considerable amount of body heat is lost through the head.

Eating the wrong food can upset race day plans. Stick to meals you are used to, preferably something easily digested and high in carbohydrate such as pasta. Make sure your breakfast is at least two, preferably three hours before start time. Toast, honey, cereal should be fine. Some people find some foods, particularly cheese, eggs and apples, cause stitch, so be wary of what you eat on race morning.

Make sure you start the run hydrated and drink regularly throughout the distance. Do not wait until you are thirsty before taking a drink – it is too late by then. A Sunday morning coffee is not a good idea. Caffeine raises heart and breathing rates and blood lactic levels, which will not help you over the marathon or half marathon distance. Caffeine is also a strong diuretic. Toilet stops during the event is not what you want, nor is the consequent reduction in body hydration. Lack of sleep is an obvious but often overlooked factor. The run itself will tire you – you don’t want to be on the start line already tired.

Finally, do not run 42.2 km if running the marathon or 21.1 if entered in the half – instead, run 5 kilometers then another 5 then another 5. Rather than take one big bite take a number of smaller nibbles. Concentrate on getting through one 5 km at a time then when that is achieved, focus on the next 5. Or if you prefer, break it down into 20-minute segments and focus on each segment, one at a time.