On Running Marathons

 I've finished six marathons. I also started six marathons, so the going has been good. Have I learned anything from those six? What wisdom, if any, can I pass on to those who've never run a marathon before? 

1. My first marathon was Southampton in 2018. It's not that long ago! Before I got to the start line I developed a pain on the outside of my right knee (I think it was the right, because it's my stronger leg, so it ended up doing more work).  I had no idea what the pain meant.  All I do know is that at the end of my first-ever 20 mile run, the Thames 20 in Richmond, I had this funny pain in the knee that somehow seemed connected to the hip.  I was pretty sure it would go away quickly.  It didn't.  Later on, I went to the launch of Brewer's book "Run Smart", a double launch with Hobrough launching his own "Running Free of Injuries".  Hobrough has an eagle eye. He told us we need to do single-leg squats and hip stretches. I started that very evening and have rarely missed a day of single leg squats.

ADVICE 1: DO SINGLE LEG SQUATS.  Do not let your knee go over your toe.  It has to be a squat, with your bum sticking out, and you want alignment of the knee with the outside of the foot.  This is the best single exercise for runners, for strengthening your glutes, and for keeping your alignment.  It is not a cure-all, but it is a fundamental base exercise.

I went away with my two books, which you should get, and read through them, taking notes and scribbling in the margins.

Brewer discusses the discrepancy between how much glycogen you can store in your body, and how much is needed to finish a marathon. It varies by individual, but is also quite large. You most likely need at least 500 calories to bridge the gap.

ADVICE 2: EAT. You need to carry some kind of food with you, whether in liquid or solid form. You need to eat it BEFORE YOU GET HUNGRY. If you wait until you get hungry to eat, it's too late, and you will hit the wall. THIS APPLIES TO TRAINING RUNS AND THE RACE.

Brewer notes that when you hit 20 miles you still have a very long way to go. Think of it this way (he says): You still, at 20 miles, have 6.2 miles to go. 6.2/20 is 31% of the distance you've already run.  That's almost a third! 

ADVICE 3: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE DIFFICULTY OF THE FINAL SIX MILES. THEY ARE, IN ESSENCE, THE RACE ITSELF.  

For this reason many marathon plans go further than 20 miles as the max distance run.

I finished my first marathon at Southampton, running injured with ITB syndrome, in 5 hours and 51 minutes.  Immediately after the race my injury cleared up and I was fine running again.  I had walked the last six miles.  

2. My second marathon was an event organised by Phoenix running events, and it took place on the banks of the Thames near Kingston in 2018. You ran back and forth along the river in 10+km chunks, completed the set four times. My father's wake had been earlier that year, and I had spent some time training in Canada, on Vancouver Island, completing one 21+ mile run after reading McDougall's "Born to Run".

Advice he was given (mind you, for ultra-running) was, if it feels hard, then you're running too hard. The only way to sustain yourself is to make your easy running truly easy.

ADVICE 4: RUN LONG AT A TRULY EASY PACE OF 10MM OR SLOWER. If you don't do this, as your race gets closer, you run the risk of leaving your race performance behind on a fast training run.  You only have one race run in you, not two, so don't overdo it.

One reason my second marathon in Kingston was so good, and why I finished a full hour+ faster than my first marathon, was that I ran my training runs easy, and because I didn't overdo it in the race itself.  It was 30C on the day, with most of the run in direct sunlight.  I actually stopped to walk a couple of times.  You need to judge the conditions on the day. I finished very comfortably in around 4hours and 30 minutes in this second attempt.

3. On my third marathon attempt I did sub-4 hours, hitting in around 3h56 I think. I was also injured very close to the race date, mostly because I didn't eat during my long runs (see ADVICE 1 above). But I got back to my long runs by doing Jeffing initially, which is a run-walk algorithm of 4mins run, 1min walk, over and over. Before that, I had been doing long walks of 16 miles.  All of this just to get back to being able to run.  On race day itself, because I was pretty fit after being a runner for three years now (I only started running in 2016), it was no problem to keep with the 4hour pacers, on a 9minute mile pace.  I cruised around.  It also helped a lot that it was a very cool 6C. 

ADVICE 5: USE PACERS TO ENSURE THAT YOU DON'T GO OFF TOO FAST. This is crucial in a marathon.  I'll illustrate why using my experience from the half marathon to contrast the difference in strategy that is involved, and is related to the glycogen deficit issue noted above.  In a half marathon, you can just gun it from the start and go all out, and make it to the end.  I did this when I ran 1h31mins in Wokingham Half in 2020.  I didn't eat or drink during Wokingham Half 2020 because there was no deficit, so going off too fast had fewer consequences.  By contrast, if you go off too fast at the start of a marathon, relying on adrenaline to power you, you are almost guaranteed to hit the wall. THE WALL IS A RELATIVE LACK OF SPEED TO HOW FAST YOU WERE GOING BEFORE. IT IS A SLUGGISH FEELING THAT MIGHT STILL BE FAIRLY FAST, BUT IT IS NOT YOUR GOAL PACE, AND YOU END UP SLOWING DOWN, WITH POSITIVE SPLITS.

Just keep this in mind. The wall is also called, 'the wheels fell off at mile 20' or 'I just couldn't keep the pace anymore', and it is related to lack of energy.  If you eat enough, you are unlikely to hit the wall.

4. On my fourth attempt at a marathon, Brighton 2021, I went back to around 4hours 25minutes, coming off shin splint injuries and a less fit body. I hadn't been to the gym because it was closed during COVID.  It was hot, etc.  but it was still a great day.  The only thing I learned from this one was that you need to be patient.

ADVICE 6: BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF. This is meant to be fun, so have fun! If you don't like this marathon performance, you can always do another one!

5. On my fifth attempt at Southampton in 2022, I got another PB, at 3h 50mins.  It was a positive split race, but I ran the first half brilliantly.  I hit the wall. It was hot, I was hungry, and despite eating 20 or so mini-soreens and a lot of Lucozade, I got low blood sugar towards the end.  I was excreting whole mini-soreens that evening after the race. Still, it was a PB, and a very great day.  The course has over 1000ft elevation gain.

6. My sixth marathon was my most fun, and I actually set out to make the distance as long as possible by weaving back and forth from side to side to gather high-five energy the whole way. I was injured from six weeks out until the start line, so wasn't that fit, and finished in 4hours 20mins.  

ADVICE 7: HAVE FUN. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

7. My seventh marathon attempt will be on 16 April 2023 in Manchester, a route I've chosen because it's flat.  My training is going better than it has ever gone, mostly because I have three rest days per week, and average close to 50 miles per week.  My goal is to go sub-3:30.

ADVICE 8: TAKE MANY REST DAYS. When your legs get tired, you need to let them recover. As your training proceeds, there is an accumulation of tiredness that takes longer to recover from. 

I have also run 5 ultra-marathons in addition to the 6 marathons.  One of those ultras I didn't finish.  It's called a DNF, and I'm proud of it, because it was a good call.  I seriously hope you finish your marathon though, so to summarise: SLS, EAT, THINK OF THE FINAL SIX, RUN EASY, BE PATIENT, HAVE FUN, AND REST!  

Follow all of these simple rules and you'll be fine, I promise!

Camelbak Quick Grip Chill Bottle Holder (and Ultra Running Belt) Review

 

Normally I wouldn't have given this bit of kit a second glance. But a few factors came together during my marathon training that led me to acquire the Camelbak Quick Grip Chill bottle holder.  I will, specifically, really only be using this holder for the lead-up to Manchester Marathon 2023, or for the final few weeks of marathon training in any given plan, more generally.

What drove this was practicing nutrition during long marathon training runs. I used to run with a belt that held a water bottle, but those didn't hold enough food. For my own particular metabolism I need to get a lot of calories in during marathon or longer distance runs.  I've come to see equivalence to ultra-marathon distances, actually, and the marathon is, for me, just the beginning of an ultra-length run.

What I need for an ultra-length run (and therefore for a marathon), is 250 calories per hour.  I start within 30minute max, loading up on calories. Jason Koop has a recipe for rice-balls that have about 120 calories per ball, so I try to eat a couple of these per hour, one every 5-6 km.  On a four hour run that's a few rice balls, plus I'll eat gel (home made, with dates), and Kendal's mint blocks, either one about once per hour or so, in good amounts. 

Koop recommends (in his book Training Essentials for Ultrarunning) keeping water separate from electrolytes so that you can measure your intake. It's better to be slightly under-hydrated, and slightly over-electrolyted, which I found out the hard way during my first 100k Race to the Stones when I got overhydrated, making my electrolyte levels drop badly.

To fit all the food in, and to avoid carrying a running vest during a marathon run (and this is the difference from my ultra-training, in which I always wear a vest), I started running with a bottle in my hand.  Now the problem becomes how to get all that food out of my Camelbak Ultra Running Belt (which it holds easily) while carrying a water bottle. 

The answer is: not very easily.  I ended up having to hold the bottle under one arm while grappling to get the food out from around back, and sometimes I dropped the bottle, and I also tended to slow down a lot during this whole procedure, which you don't want to do when you're practicing marathon pace during a session.  

My front pocket of the Ultra Running Belt was, in addition, holding my phone.  I needed to get that phone somewhere else too.  So I got the Quick Grip Chill Bottle Holder to hold the bottle and, as a bonus, it also holds my phone.

Now I can use the Ultra Running Belt to hold the sugar and gel up front where the phone used to be, continuing to use the back for the rice balls.  With the strap handle around my hand, I can push the bottle up my arm, freeing up both hands, and keeping the bottle from dropping to the ground.  During yesterday's long run I was able to keep a pretty good pace, and get down the rice ball I needed, while keeping everything I'm carrying controlled and in position.

On the day of the marathon, I probably won't need to bring the hand held bottle holder, and my phone can move to an arm strap if needed.  

I am learning that how I treat the marathon affects how I treat the ultra-marathon, and that they are related.  I don't see the ultra as a long marathon, because they are very differently paced, but I do see the marathon as a short ultra, in a way, because of how I fuel the marathon. Without fuel I always hit the wall.

I have consistent half marathon times I'm really happy with at the sub-1:35 pace, but my marathon times are all over the place! I'd like to get them more consistent, and with training to kit and nutrition I'm beginning to feel confident I might finally be able to hit my sub-3:30 goal when I run Manchester on 16 April 2023.