by Thijs
(The Netherlands)
You are interested in running a marathon. Good! Moreover, you are interested in the stories of other people that ran a marathon. Very good! You are already smarter than I was when I was training for my very first marathon. Let me first and foremost wish you good luck with your training and race efforts, I hope you enjoy every second of it!
I would like to share my experiences with you to prevent you from making the same foolish mistakes I and many others have made in the past. Up to now, I have ran 4 marathons. The first one was a true marathon race, the three others were the last part of a triathlon. However, since these parts all involved running for 42.195 meters (or 26.2 miles, if you prefer), I count them as marathons (I hope you can forgive me for that). I have learned important lessons in each of them, and I’ll address one of those lessons per event.
Marathon #1- Training!
My first marathon started as a bet in summer. The race was due in autumn that year. Up till then, I had reasonable cycling abilities but no real experience or whatsoever in running. However, I started training for this challenge knowing that nothing could stop me from completing this race. Being young and ignorant, I increased my running efforts from 0 to 4 or 5 times per week.
I used a training scheme found on the Internet; adapted by me by compressing the first months since I could not find a schedule tight enough to meet my deadline. The pace was simply set by estimating what pace I could sustain over the targeted distance for that day. Overtraining and training zones were nonexistent words in my vocabulary. And, (in hindsight surprisingly) all went well.
Well, all went well until one month before the start of the race. I was diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infection and had to stop training immediately. I had been training for about three months, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Therefore, my plan was to resume training as soon as possible. Unfortunately, as soon as possible meant 10 days before the start. Yet, since my training laps went smoothly again, I decided in all my wisdom that I was race ready.
Of course, I was not. I completed the race, but I was not enjoying it as much as my training efforts. From kilometer 34 I had to walk every now and then, and the second half of my marathon was 20 minutes slower than the first half. Already during the race I knew that I should not have started: not only because the infection, but simply since I had been training neither right nor sufficient.
Triathlon #1- Nutrition!
Two years after my first marathon experience, I started in a triathlon: Ironman® Austria. I had been doing some half-marathons since the race described above, I had learned how to use my heart rate monitor, and I was up for another challenge. This time, I did some more research and training (albeit too much and to monotone). One of the tips I read about concerned nutrition: I read that it was advised to make sure you are comfortable with the nutrition during a race. If you train with a sports nutrition (like me), that means you can either adjust (or stick) to the brand ‘served’ at the event, or you can bring your own nutrition.
Since the brand I had been training with for over two years was different from what was provided at the race, I chose to bring my own nutrition. Yet, triathlons (and marathons, too) are not the shortest of events. This means you’ll likely have to bring more nutrition than you want to carry during the race. In my case, there were some personal aid stations (where volunteers hand out your flask or bottle) but I decided to mix a stronger version of my sports drink, carry this concentrate in bottles on the bike and to lengthen it with water on the go.
Unfortunately, I had not tried this version of my sports drink in training. Had I done that, I would have know it was a bad idea. The result: 26.2 miles of stomach cramps with intermediate Portaloo sprints. Seriously, make sure you know the nutrition you are going to work with.
Triathlon #2: Pace yourself!
In 2009, I participated in another triathlon. This time the venue was Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands. Training for this one went better, I finally understood what training zones are about, and I trained with the nutrition that was provided at the race (I made one mistake, though: I thought that gels would be provided on the bike course and the run course. It turned out that they were only handed out on the run course. Note to self: It cannot hurt to carefully read all specifics about the race).
This triathlon on Lanzarote has a challenging bike course, and I was extremely happy with my pace. However, my cycling computer showed a different distance covered than the kilometer road signs did. Being optimistic, I was convinced that my cycling computer had occasionally lost signal, and that the road signs were right. Unfortunately, the road signs had been wrong (after the 160km sign it took me another 30~35 km before the transition area (at 180km)). These last kilometers my legs were simply killing me, as I had been pushing too hard.
Although my mistake happened during the bike leg, my run time suffered heavily. Luckily, I was still able to set a new personal best. My advice: Use other methods to pace yourself than your watch and the km or miles signs posted by the organization. Some races have pacers with their expected finish times on shirts or balloons, or you can use a GPS device or foot pod to check your pace.
Triathlon#3: Focus!
In 2010, I did my third full triathlon. This time, I was determined to beat my personal best again. My preparation for this race was better than at the last two triathlons, and I was quite confident that I would achieve my goal. The swim went OK, the bike leg was good, and I was still smiling when I started the run. However, for some reason I had difficulties staying focused. It felt like I was constantly falling back into my ‘comfort zone’, which was about 10-20 heartbeats below my race pace. Perhaps it was the absence of pain, or all went too smoothly, but I feel that I could have saved 10-15 minutes on my marathon time had I been focused.
Most heart rate monitors have alarms that warn you when your heart rate drops below or exceeds a certain limit. It simply beeps or vibrates (for the newer models) when your heart rate is outside the zone specified by you. Although you might want to set your upper level a bit higher to compensate for race excitement, I definitely recommend you to set a lower boundary. Sometimes it is good to be reminded you are in a race!
These were my small four pieces of advice for you. Whether you are new to marathons or an experienced runner, I hope you have as much running fun as I do, but without these silly mistakes!
Go out there and be awesome!
