Marathon season is right around the corner! If you are running a fall marathon, then you should be right in the thick of training. Running a marathon is a huge commitment. It takes a large amount of time, energy and resources to get your body fully prepared to get to the finish line. When making such a large investment, you want to do everything in your power to reach the start line in the best shape as you possibly can. Avoiding mistakes during marathon training is one of the main keys to success.
At it’s core, marathon training is pretty simple. You need to get your body’s cardiovascular fitness and endurance increased to be able to cover the 26.2 mile race. There isn’t one tried and true plan for marathon training, as different people have found success with varying programs. Much of the information available contains great advice, but it can be easy to get sucked in and hurt your training. I have completed six marathons and I have compiled 5 crucial mistakes you need to avoid during marathon training.
Easy Runs Too Fast
One of the most impactful marathon training mistakes that I have corrected in my training is not making my easy days easy enough. While it is very important to be spending time each week at or below your goal race pace, you don’t need to be at that pace for every run. A typical week of marathon training consists of different types of runs. The main types are easy, long, tempo, and intervals. All of these play an important part in developing your fitness. Running too fast on your easy runs can actually hinder your training instead of help it. I know that sounds backwards, so how does slowing down help you get faster?
Recovery For Other Workouts
A first major benefit of slowing down easy runs is to recover for harder workouts. It is important to be able to put in quality work on your hard days. If you aren’t recovered properly, your body won’t get as much benefit from the harder days. You will also drastically increase your chances for injury if you are not letting your body recover between hard workouts. Slower runs also help build time on feet and cardiovascular endurance, which are crucial to marathon fitness.
Training Targets
- Follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of your training miles should be “easy” pace and 20% should be high intensity.
- Aim for no higher than 60-70% of your max heart rate
- An easy gauge is breathing level. You should be able to hold a conversation during the run without struggle
- Shoot for less than 4 on a hypothetical exertion scale out of 10
- You may need to adjust due to weather & how you feel. The goal is to take it easy, so it may not always be the same pace every time.
No Cutback Weeks
Another one of the key marathon training mistakes to avoid is not building in cutback weeks in your training. As part of an 18-week marathon training plan, you should be cutting back your mileage every 4th week. I typically cut back my mileage around 15-20% during this week. Training for a marathon is a long grind and the body needs rest. While you are not taking off the week, cutting back mileage allows the body to recover and adapt to the increased training load.
Cutback weeks should be planned out ahead of time in your training. It can also be a “light at the end of the tunnel” as it gives you something to look forward to in your training. Maintaining your mental health during marathon training is just as important as your physical health. Avoiding burnout and keeping motivation up is key to improving your fitness.
There are two different ways you can cutback during the weeks you choose. First, you can cutback overall mileage by taking a few miles off each run or taking a bigger chunk off your weekly long run. The other way is to reduce your intensity of workouts. This may mean slowing your pace some on workouts or cutting out 1 workout from your weekly schedule. You will need to find what works for you, but make sure you include some cutbacks to keep your training moving forward.
Not Fueling Enough
One of the many things I did not know about marathon training before starting was that your body does not have enough energy reserves to last an entire marathon. Many runners fear “hitting the wall” or “bonking” towards the later stages of a marathon. Typically what happens when an athlete hits the wall is actually running out of energy. The body only has so much glycogen stored up in their live and muscles. Once those stores are used up the body switches to burning fat, which is much harder on the body to burn. As a result, your body slows down and fatigue sets in quickly.
The goal is to get to the finish line with just enough energy in the tank. If you run out early it will be a hard finish. If you have too much energy taken in, it can cause cramping or stomach issues. Your body typically has about 2000 calories of glycogen stored up. With the average person burning around 100 calories per mile of running, you will usually run out of energy around the 20 mile mark. This would need to be adjusted for your personal situation as heat, pace, age, and weight all factor into your calorie burn rate.
Before long runs and your race, you need to start building up your glycogen stores the day before by eating carbohydrate rich foods. During the race, you should plan to take in around 30-60 grams of carbs roughly every 45 minutes. Everybody will be a little different but the science shows this is optimal. There are lots of products on the market for in race nutrition, but you will want to find whatever you can easily digest.
For me, I prefer the GU Energy Blocks. They are basically big fruit snacks that are high in sugar and other carbs. You want to focus on foods that release energy quickly and that can be digested easily. Finally, make sure you practice your nutrition on long runs. It takes some time, but you can train your gut to accept these foods while exercising.
Not Listening To Your Body
One of the worst things you can do while training for a marathon is to ignore early injury warning signs. Sometimes injuries happen from one time events (e.g. falling down or slipping) but the majority of injuries in marathon training come with a gradual buildup. It is essential that you learn to listen to your body. 18 weeks of training can take quite it’s toll on the body so you need to be prepared to take care of it. Many overuse injuries can be taken care of before they get serious.
There is a fine line between pain from pushing yourself each week and pain from an injury. The old adage “No Pain No Gain” is not always true. However, in marathon training it is always best to try to take care of injuries before they flare up and cause bigger issues. It can also be very discouraging to take a little time off to deal with injuries during the middle of training. Missing a couple days out of 126 days is not going to set you back nearly as much as continuing to train through injury.
Personal Example
Earlier this year in my buildup for the Boston Marathon I had to deal with an injury bug. I had made it through my first 10 weeks of training and was crushing it. In that 11th week I started noticing some pain in the bottom of my foot after longer runs. While it was not keeping me from running, it kept progressively getting a little worse each day. After week, I decided to go to the podiatrist (highly recommend Dr. Titko if near Cincinnati) to get it checked out. She diagnosed me with posterior tibial tendonitis and got me started right away with treatment. It took 2 weeks of cutting back on running, but I was able to heal up and get healthy for the final few weeks of training. I ended up surpassing all of my goals for the race (2:58 finish).
Now, that may not necessarily be the best option for you, but I listened to my body and knew something was off. I think I could have continued to train through it, but would have been miserable and probably would not have achieved as good of time. I believe that taking care of your body is the best investment you can make. It’s really discouraging in the moments after realizing you have the injury but there is hope in knowing that getting healthy will ultimately help you out so much more.
Trying To Make Up Missed Mileage
This final marathon training mistake can be a hard one. This is usually made in conjunction with coming off an injury or vacation. You’ve been out for a couple days or weeks and are ready to make up for missed time. One of the worst things you can do is to try to add back all of your missed mileage. When returning from time off, you need to build your fitness back up by sticking to your plan. While you may feel a little sluggish at the beginning, your fitness will return. Also, over-training to make up for missed mileage will increase chance for re-injury. Your best races will be when you start them healthy.
