11 tips for first-time marathon runners
The decision to run your first marathon comes with a mix of emotions that tend to swing between excitement and fear. But with the right training and preparation, your debut 26.2 should be an exciting and satisfying (if challenging) journey to the finish line. And with the proper mindset, it can even be fun, too. ‘Approach the race with joy and gratitude, not as a life-or-death thing, ’says Molly Seidel, an Olympic marathon medallist. ‘A lot of people are overly serious, but you can be focused and still have fun with it.’ So take a deep breath and read on for our best tips, tricks and expert advice to help take you all the way to the finish line of running’s most iconic distance...
Give yourself 20 weeks to train
Beginners should start training long before the race, says Andrew Kastor, coach of the Asics Mammoth Track Club in Mammoth Lakes, California. A four-and-half-month training cycle builds up your endurance and aerobic capacity – the secret sauce in a marathon.
'A lot of people could go out there and drag themselves through a 5K, but it’s much harder to do a marathon if you haven’t put in the work,’ says Rob Watson, ex-pro marathoner and head coach for Mile2Marathon in Vancouver. ‘The more time you give yourself to do it, the more prepared you will be on race day. You don’t want to cram for a marathon.’
Get comfortable running at least 18 miles
Long runs accomplish two things, says Kastor. ‘Number one: they develop confidence. And number two: they train your body to recognise what it’s like to run on fatigued legs – because when you get about 20 miles into a marathon, your legs are like stubs.’
Slowly build up to 18 to 20 miles for two long runs, Kastor says. At the start of your training cycle, take your most recent long run and alternate adding one and two miles each week, until you hit at least 18 miles. (So, if your longest run is 10 miles, run 11 the next week, then 13, then 14, and so on.)
After you hit at least 18, step down to about 13 miles for three weeks, Kastor says. Then go back up for one more 18-miler to close out the training cycle.
Find a support system
Working with a running group or a coach by your side will help you go the distance. ‘Sometimes you’re pushing the group and sometimes you’re getting pulled along,’ says Watson. ‘But either way, your training partners are right next to you, breathing and working just as hard.’ Ask your local running shop or search social media for clubs and groups to help you find the right crew. Working with others can also give you accountability, structure and confidence. ‘A marathon build-up on paper could look perfect, but when it comes down to actually doing it, you might get ill, or have work or life stress,’ says Watson. ‘You’re going to have to change your plan, and your coach’s experience can guide you through it, while giving you the confidence that you’re still doing it right.’
Take two days a week off from running
‘You need to allow your body time to adapt,’ says Watson. A day without running may not feel productive, but your body is recuperating from any minor muscle tears or tissue damage that’s occurred during your training and getting used to the strength you’ve built up. Plus, it allows your mind to reset and will keep your motivation high. It all adds up to a faster race time.
New marathoners should dedicate one day every week to a cross-training activity such as cycling, swimming or yoga, Kastor says, and also take a day completely off each week. On these rest days, foam-roll, stretch, eat well, sleep and let your mind and body heal from the stress of marathon training.
Add marathon pace to some long runs
Race-day success, Kastor says, ‘comes down to the long runs, training and getting used to the pace.’ Run six to eight miles at marathon pace during your long runs. As your body gets more familiar with race pace, it also becomes more efficient at it. It will also get used to running the pace on tired legs. Schedule just two or three of these marathon-pace long runs during your training cycle, says Jeff Gaudette, coach and former Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project pro runner. And spread them out by at least two weeks, with the last one occurring no closer than three weeks before your race.
Another option for an 18- to 20-miler with marathon pace is a progressive long run, Gaudette says. Take the first couple of miles easy, miles two to seven at 15 seconds per mile slower than goal marathon pace, miles eight to 13 at goal pace and the remaining miles at 10 seconds per mile faster than goal race pace. This run is best implemented in the final eight weeks of your training plan.
Beginners often feel nervous about running out of energy before they make it to the finish line. Gaudette says the progressive long run is one of the best ways to train your body and mind to push through the hardest part of the race: the last few miles. This is also a good option for runners using longer training plans to help reinvigorate your marathon prep leading up to race day.
Don't stress about completing a 20-mile long run
During their training cycles, many coaches – including most featured here – tell their athletes to hit 20 miles at least once. ‘There’s a big psychological benefit on race day to completing the 20-mile training run,’ says Kastor. It’s a major confidence booster, Watson agrees. But is 20 really a magic number?
‘It’s just a round number,’ says Kevin Hanson, coach and co-author of Hansons Marathon Method. The book and method have guided thousands of amateur runners to marathon finish lines with training plans that never ask for more than a 16-mile long run.
‘The biggest drawback to our plan is convincing people that 20 is just a number,’ he says. The Hansons Method prioritises consistent work over the course of a week to build your overall mileage, rather than emphasising one extra-long run in a week.
A 20-mile run is overkill for many new marathoners. For runners averaging 10-minute miles, a 20-miler will take almost three and a half hours.‘Running over three hours for a training run has been shown to have a point of diminishing returns,’ says Roberta Groner, a coach for Central Park TrackClub in New York and a pro marathoner.
Hanson has his athletes practise their marathon pace over and over again, ‘on days when you’re tired and on days when you’re hungrier than you should be at the start’. This way, you get used to running on sore legs as well as holding back when fresh.‘Often, training plans have you take the day off before a 20-miler, which is like a mini taper,’ Hanson says. Instead, he wants your long run to feel like a simulation of the end of the race, when your legs are feeling the fatigue.
So should we all forsake the 20-miler? Not if you enjoy that style of training plan or it works better for your schedule. Plans featuring a handful of long runs in the region of 20 miles are more feasible for the runner who amps up their training on the weekends, Kastor says.
Or if you’re the type of runner who wants to spread their training evenly across the weeks– like Groner, who found the Hansons Method was better for her as she was raising young kids – then dive into that approach.
Start refuelling as early as 20 minutes into your race
Fuelling your marathon correctly is key to avoid hitting the marathon wall. This is when your legs can barely move, you feel like you’re crawling and you're battling your mind over your body. Also known as ‘bonking’, it even happens to pros, like Keira D’Amato, former US record holder in the marathon, who hit the wall hard at around mile 20 of her first marathon in 2013 and had to walk most of her last six miles.
You hit the wall when your body runs out of glycogen, which is energy stored in your muscles and liver, says Dr Alison Helms, a certified personal trainer and creator of the Women’s Running Academy. Our bodies store about 2,200 calories in glycogen, which will fuel us for somewhere around 18 to 20 miles. Once your body’s main fuel source is gone, your brain ‘wants you to stop and turns on all the signals’, Dr Helms says. You may cramp up, feel fatigued or even have GI problems. So, how do you avoid it?
Start refuelling as early as 20 minutes in. If you run out of carb stores, it’s really hard to get them back,’ says Kastor. So take in your fuel before you need it – as early as 20 minutes into the race. And aim to take in 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrates – or two energy gels – every hour during the race.
Dehydration can be just as nasty as – and actually more dangerous than – bonking, so combine your fluid intake with your gels, says sports nutritionist Monica Reinagel. She suggests taking on one or two cups of the water or sports drink at every aid station along the course.
Plan out and practise refuelling
Kastor gets his runners to find out what fuel and fluids will be offered along the course of their planned race to help them gauge how much nutrition they need to carry. Then they train while fuelling with those exact products and flavours throughout their training cycles.
If you do need to supplement the aid stations, make sure you have room to carry your fuel. Watson recommends storing your gels in fuel belts, pockets, sports bra or arm warmers.
Practise your fuel plan on your long training runs to make sure your stomach can handle it, that you’re able to get it all into your mouth while running and that the gear you’ll wear is comfortable.
Check your pace regularly
Kastor recommends checking your pace around the first 5K – are you going too fast? ‘It’s not too late to slow down at this point,’ he says. If you get to mile 10 and already feel like you’ve been pushing too hard, ‘chances are pretty high that you’ll hit a wall’, says Diane Nukuri, an Olympic Marathoner for Burundi and three-time top-eight finisher at a World Major Marathon.
‘If you get to 30K [around 18 miles] feeling good,’ says Kastor, ‘I give everyone the green light to pick it up by five to 15 seconds per mile, and try to hold that pace all the way to the finish line. You can make up a couple of minutes in the last few miles.’
Focus on you
Your brain is busy during a run, monitoring blood volume, sweat rates, core temperature, blood sugar and stress hormones, says Dan Benardot, author of Nutrition For Serious Athletes. ‘Mental fatigue will lead to the perception of muscle fatigue.’
It comes down to mind over matter, says Dr Christian Zepp, a sports scientist and sports psychology expert. Visualise ‘positive alternatives to the wall, such as anticipating a runner’s high at certain mile markers,’ he says. Shift your focus internally and use positive self-talk to motivate yourself back on track, adds Dr Zepp. Tell yourself to keep calm or focus on highly specific aspects of the race, such as your running form or the exact pace for the mile you’re in, until you pass the wall by.
Carb-load the week before
In the week leading up to the race, 70% of your total calories should come from carbs, Dr Helms says. (For a 68kg runner eating 2,700 calories a day, for example, that’s about 450g of carbs.) Two to three days before the race, increase to 80% to 90% from carbs (for that same runner, that’s 540 to 850 grams of carbs). Bread, pasta, oats and rice are all solid carb-loading choices.
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