(How To) Run Your First Marathon
That's a perfectly fine place to sit. Enjoying a beer with your marathon medal around your neck. Basking in glory...... until the next one.
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I hope you've arrived at this article already signed up and ready to rip into your first marathon. If you're looking for a detailed guide ie a program this isn't the blog. However I'll be giving you a few general takeaways so you don't blow it!
Personally I think it's one of the most fulfilling achievements in fitness. Knowing you've got the mental fortitude and physical capability to battle through 42.2km puts you in a special category, however long it takes you.
I wish more people strived to be in that category. If only for the sense of self-actualisation. To understand what they are fully capable of and how deep they really can dig.
Running changes lives.
But let's get to it.
Burn the boats mentality!
Credited to Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes who conquered large parts of Mexico (and was just a real dickhead). On arrival in the new world he ordered his men to "burn their boats" to ensure they had no plan B and succeeded in their mission. You need this mentality, minus the killing of entire civilisations but you get me, right? Burn the boats as they say, youâve signed up, there is no turning back, no plan B, whatever happens, however pear-shaped it may get, feet bleeding, vomiting, shitting or pissing yourself crawling over that finish line. Get it in your head that itâs already done. How hard itâs going to be is now the question.
It's time to get to work.
Mileage, as itâs referred to, normally measured as miles (kilometres down here in Oz) per week. Why do we still call it mileage? Ks in the legs! This is the biggest factor that will get you across the line in close to one piece. However there is a huge caveat. Injuries. Runners get them, lots of them. In fact, Yale Medicine reports ~65% of regular runners get injured each year! One of the biggest reasons for breaking down is huge spikes in total volume, and/or intensity. So while you need to increase mileage you need to do so slowly to build your aerobic base and lower body resilience.
However slow you just thought to build your mileage.
Make it slower.
Strength.
Speaking of resilience
A meta-analysis published in the British Journal Of Sports Medicine in 2014 looked at 25 trials, including 26,610 participants with 3,464 injuries concluded that:
In general, engaging in strength training has been found to effectively reduce sports injuries. Multiple exposure programs (a combination), proprioception training, and strength training all demonstrated promising results in reducing injuries.
A strength training program that includes (but isn't limited to) typical lower body variations such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, split squats, calf raises, hip thrusts. Twice a week as far away timewise from your runs as you can practically manage. As a Strength & Conditioning Coach this is my area of expertise so if you're in need of a strength program to accompany you're running feel free to email me aj@smithsfitness.com.au
Long runs.
This is the most important type of run you will do. There are plenty of other categories of runs and depending on who, where and what you are reading they will be called different things. Recovery, Tempo, Threshold, vO2, Easy, Zone 1 through 5, sometimes even Zone 1 through 7, it can all get a little bit confusing. But long runs are typically just called long runs. You want to work up to a ~30-35km as your last longest effort in training about 3-4 weeks out from race day. You should work towards this stepwise as you build endurance. Your starting point will dictate how long you'll need to get there. One important, and very obvious but I'm going to say it anyway, point when running long is that:
Slow is the go.
Remember before when I said you have to slowly build up your mileage. That's not the only thing that should be slow. Most of your training should be as well. Some of it should even be walking. That's right walking. I completely understand wanting to attempt to run the whole thing when it comes to race day. But, walking during training, is massively underrated. Even for elite marathoners >80% of training volume is performed at a low intensity. This takes some discipline and commitment. Most people end up somewhere in the middle or towards the higher end. The problem is when prepping for a marathon you've likely got a run scheduled within a couple of days. You've got to be ready to go again. Remember you need volume, but you can't have high volume and high intensity.
There is a conundrum when it comes to feats of endurance. On one hand you will be immensely proud of completing your first Marathon. On the other hand you will have a heightened perspective of how absolutely mind-boggling the feats of other humans can be. That's a perfectly fine place to sit. Enjoying a beer with your marathon medal around your neck. Basking in glory, until the next one.
