From RFK Committee Member Cathy Blessing:
Read this all the way through and think about it prior to
your marathon
Mentally practice (rehearse) the marathon. Doing so results in a sense of confidence
and relaxation. Can be done at any time
while running, while sitting in traffic, while lying in bed, etc.
1. Familiarize
yourself with the course. Look at a
course map, drive around the course, if you can, cover parts of it in your training. Visualize yourself running in the marathon,
and how you'll be feeling while running the parts you are covering in the
race. Learn where the water stops are,
what landmarks are along the course, and the terrain (where are the hills,
sharp turns, changes in surface, bridges, tunnels, etc.).
2. Break the
marathon course into smaller sections.
It can be every 5 miles, sections between landmarks; the generic
sections I have broken down below, or even water stop to water stop. It's easier to tackle sections of the course
and to plan for those sections than it is to think of the entire distance. In essence, you can set up each section as a
mini-goal to accomplish.
3. Plan a strategy
for each section of the race. Having a
strategy will help you get through the race in the most effective way. Consider when to drink and when to eat
(remember, you don't want to wait to feel thirsty, hungry or low on energy
before eating or drinking). Think about
your pace how to keep yourself from running fast in the beginning, to keeping
the right pace during the middle miles, and how to push yourself in the last
miles (for some, this is working hard to maintain marathon pace, for others,
its a reminder to keep moving forward) (Prior to planning your strategy, read
through the sections of a marathon that I have broken down in the Marathon
Itself section below).
Note that each new section of the course can be a place to
"re-start" or regroup yourself - to check things like your form, to
think about how much you've done, and to review your plan for upcoming
sections.
4. Once you have
your strategy, go through the whole marathon in your mind from the night before
through to the finish (refer to the generic section description below)
practicing your strategy. For a
first-timer, it may be as simple as keeping the pace easy throughout, drinking
at every water stop, taking carbs at every-other water stop and reminding
yourself in the last miles to just keep moving forward. More advanced runners may have more
complicated strategy taking into consideration things such as heart rate and
terrain changes. After going through at
least one mental rehearsal, visualize yourself running in the marathon under
different weather conditions. It may
not be pleasant to think about running the whole race in the rain, but if you
plan for it, it will be easier to deal with come race day.
If you want, go for a very easy short run the day before (3
miles).
Lay everything out you will need for race day. By the day before the race you should know
what you will need to wear/bring with you.
Each person has their own individual check list of items which may contain
clothing for the race itself (tops, bottoms, outer layers including disposable
layers), dry clothing (and perhaps footwear) for after the race, watch, shoes,
socks, race number, chip, pins, gels, BodyGlide/Vaseline, water carrier if
planning on carrying own fluid (filled and ready to go), etc. (Note: find out what sports drink the
marathon is providing if you are not used to it, or dont like the flavor, be
prepared to carry your own supply or have any spectators you know carrying it
for you).
Hydrate throughout the day and eat carefully (dont eat
anything known to give you stomach troubles or thats new to you).
Stay off of your feet and rest. If you cant sleep, dont worry about it losing sleep the night before the marathon wont hurt your
performance.
As you dress, lubricate any potential chaffing spots.
If you are used to doing so, eat something light before you
leave for the race.
As in all races arrive early. You dont want any added stress to your day. Try to relax, go over your race
strategy. There is no need to hype your
self up before a marathon.
Use the facilities if need be.
You may want to warm-up by walking or light jogging plus a
few very easy strides if you want to stretch (gently) before the start.
Place yourself in the appropriate spot in the starting area
(dont get into a pace group that will make you run too fast in the early
miles).
The following is my description of the various stages of a
marathon. Keep in mind and try your
best to execute the strategy you have developed for the race. In your planning session, you may break the
course down into different sections, which is fine. The following is a description of what you may feel during
different parts of the marathon, and some things to keep in mind during each
part, and in your planning/rehearsal of the marathon.
There is a lot of energy flowing around you at this point
from spectators cheering to knowing you are embarking on a great journey. It is very important to keep your pace under
control in the beginning. It is all too
easy to get caught up in the excitement and the adrenaline rush and run faster
than you should (which makes the later miles miserable miles). Save your energy by keeping the pace very easy
save the energy for later in the race.
Sometimes its good to have a “do not exceed pace” and use your watch to
ensure you dont run any faster than it.
It tends to be easy to maintain good form here, but make sure you
do. The effects of flaws in form get
magnified over the marathon distance
The excitement level comes down some, but youll still feel
pretty good at this point. You should
be comfortably settled into a pace at this point, but still want to keep check
on it as there still is a long way to go.
Continue to check your form you may start forgetting about it here, as
the running still feels very comfortable.
This is when you realize that you're not really tired, but
the adrenaline has worn off and you know you still have a long way to go. This
is when the reality that running a marathon is work sets in. That same pace youve been running isnt
really hard, but you can feel the effort to maintain it has increased
some. Again, check your form. May seem tough to think about it often, but
it does make a difference.
This is often the area where people start to hit the
notorious wall. If youve kept your pace
in control and have done a good job at hydrating and refueling yourself with
carbs, you may not necessarily hit the wall but you may still feel the pace
getting harder to maintain, or youll notice your pace slipping. Muscles tend to start fatiguing in this
range; this is normal. Rare is the
runner that feels really good through these miles and doesnt find the pace
getting harder. If you are that runner,
you can pick things up after mile 23.
If not, just keep moving along the best you can. If you feel the need to stretch, do so. If you need to take a break at this point do
it as quickly as you can. You need to
keep moving forward. The longer you
stop, the harder it is to start moving forward again. Thinking about, and making adjustments to your form often eases
some of the fatigue and tension that is building in these miles.
These are the toughest miles in a marathon, especially for
first-timers whose bodies are coming to terms with the extended distance
(particularly in an actual race environment).
Sometimes, it feels like someone is out moving the mile markers further
and further away. Most runners
experience a lot of fatigue in these last miles their legs feel like lead, and
no matter how fast they seem to be running, often you later find you were
running much slower than you thought.
Its important in this stage to just keep moving forward no matter what
it takes. More advanced runners need to
continuously associate with their bodies to excel, however, most of us need to
think about other things outside of our body.
Some things to think about to help you through the last few miles are:
the benefits in reaching the finish line such as receiving your finishers
medal, food, massage, taking your shoes off, putting on a change of clothes,
lying down, a shower, a beerwhatever motivates YOU to keep moving forward. As you get closer to the finish line, more
people begin to line the course, which mentally helps pull you in. If you think about your form here, youll
find yourself constantly correcting it.
The fatigue that sets in makes it hard to maintain, but still, it often
results in easing some of the fatigue and tension. Just about everyone at this point is tired and battling fatigue
even if they dont look like it. These
are the miles that make running a marathon the accomplishment it is.
Eat what you like you earned it. Just make sure you do eat so your body can begin to repair itself
from the damage done.
Walk and stretch gently, get a massage if you can wait for
one (you can eat and gently stretch while waiting). If the weather is very cold or wet, it may not be worth waiting
for.
You may be on a high following the marathon for a few hours,
even though your body is very tired. Be
aware that at some point, you may start to crash, quickly from the
fatigue. Even if you dont feel that way,
do give your body a nap or at least some rest time to recover. It has undergone a great deal of stress.
Keep hydrating and eating healthy to fuel your body as it
repairs itself. Go for walks to help
eliminate any soreness and to aid circulation.
Gently stretch. Get a sports
massage if you can. You may not want to
run again until you no longer feel any pain while taking the stairs or getting
in/out of a seated position. (Stair tips: go down them backwards, it eases the pain
and these are the few days its okay to take the elevator). Wear your medal and enjoy your
accomplishment!
Maintaining your form reduces fatigue and helps prevent injuries.
The simplest way to think about your form is to think about
everything being in alignment, that all momentum should be forward, and that
you should try and remain relaxed.
A good way to check your form is to perform a checklist from
top-down:
Head: over your shoulders, jaw relaxed
Shoulders: relaxed, over hips
Arms: 90 degrees, pumping forward and back (not
side-to-side), fingers relaxed and not clenched into fists.
Lungs: Deep, comfortable breathing.
Abs: Tucked in supporting your back and acting as a strong
core of the body.
Legs: Think about how you are landing on your feet, rolling
through them and pushing off. Keep a
normal, relaxed stride you do not want to be overstriding. Keep toes pointing forward, facing the
direction of travel.
The Mental Side
There are several things you can do to keep your mind busy
so it doesnt focus on the fatigue that progressively increases as the miles increase
which can often lead to negative thoughts.
Fending off the negative thoughts makes the later miles a little more
pleasant.
You do not need to lie to yourself and pretend to feel great
when you dont it doesnt really help.
However, you can think about the really great thing you are doing
running a marathon is a great accomplishment.
Think about the people who dont workout at all, and the stories you will
be able to share once youve finished.
Continue reviewing and enacting your strategy. Keep thinking about how you will handle each
section to come, and if the sections you have envisioned now seem too long and
daunting, break them down even further even if it becomes doing the race
block-by-block or light-post-to-light post.
Keep checking and correcting your form. If something bothers you in particular and a
form change doesnt help, try to problem solve.
There are many little things you can do to improve your situation
(beyond DNFing). For example, if a leg
feels abnormal, consider moving to the other side of the street, if youre hot,
try to seek out the shady parts of the course.
Muscles cramping up try changing something in your form or gently
stretching them.
Absorb energy from the spectators: put your name on your
shirt (put it on your front so they can read it and be cheering it while you
are passing, if you put it on your back, by the time they read it, and say your
name, you'll be gone).
Thank the volunteers - gives you something else to think
about, as well as helps you get some air exchanged and lets you know if you're
running too fast (if you don't have the breath to say "thanks", you
probably are running too fast).
Entertain yourself read the back of the shirts that you see
around you. Enjoy the strange things
youll see along the way (marathons bring out some unique people both in the
form of spectators, and runners). Look
for people you know many of us run marathons where we know other people who are
also running in it, spectating, or volunteering.
Problem solve do math in your head. Figure out what different paces would give
you for a finish, or how much you could save if you put so much money aside
each paycheck between now and a certain date.
Whatever it takes.
Look around you are not out there doing it alone. Try and stay with someone that is doing
about your pace, if they drop back or stop, or go to fast, find another rabbit
(thats not someone fast to stay with, just someone to help pull you along).
And remember, every step you take gets you closer to the
finish!