Blog: Tips to make sure your marathon preparation is spot on

As marathon season kicks off, MD Tom Heeley offers some practical and mental tips to make sure your preparation for the big day is spot on.

Find out what could be missing from your marathon preparation.

Pre-race diet and nutrition

Both diet and nutrition play a huge part in the success of a marathon run. If your car is not fuelled properly, you simply won’t perform.

There are three parts to it too – before, during and after a race.

Not so much for your shorter training runs but for your longer runs, you will need to fuel properly before, during and after.

Look to put in 90-120 carbohydrates for an hour’s running and that is an awful lot! It might be a banana, a gel and a drink that has carbs in it. You need to train yourself and your stomach to accept that over time.

Get used to that intake in the weeks leading up to a big race. Don’t just expect to fuel like that on race day and expect your body to deal with it.

Runners pound the streets of a marathon route.

Breakfast on race day

What are you having for breakfast and are you taking that breakfast with you on the day? Make sure you plan for the most important meal of your marathon.

Make breakfast the night before and take it with you to the hotel you are staying at. I would even buy the same brand that I like so my body is used to it.

Take things like slow-release carbs and bananas and dates – just don’t have too many bananas or your potassium levels could get too high.

Food and drink during the race

Look to put electrolytes back in your body during the race to avoid muscle cramps.

After the race you will need to put carbs and protein back in your body. You won’t need protein during your race but you will need it afterwards. What about a protein smoothie which seem very popular these days. Make it beforehand and take it down.

What you really want is pasta, chicken and vegetables after the race but that can take time to cook so make sure you get something down you as soon as you can after the finish. You WILL be hungry!

If you are not properly fuelled, you will get tired too. The minute you feel tired, it’s probably too late.

Practical tips on the day

Go down to the race venue the day before, collect your race number and bib and go and find the start line, especially at big marathons like the London Marathon. This stops you stressing about where things are on the morning and you just need to re-trace your steps.

For race day, you won’t have much kit with you and you won’t have your mobile phone on you either. Make sure you feel comfortable about where you are and where you need to go.

If it’s a cold day, buy a cheap hat to keep you warm beforehand at the start line. Have a good warm up.

Alternatively, if it’s a hot day, take a disposable plastic water bottle to drink or cool you down.

Mental Preparation

A lot of events will not allow you to wear headphones so train without them in order to get used to it.

There will be pace markers running at big marathons so keep them in your eye line if you are aiming for a certain time.

Importantly, take it all in, take in the scenery – especially at events like the London Marathon.

Don’t just focus on the run and enjoy the day. You will be emotional when you cross the line and that’s perfectly natural because of the time and effort you have put in to get there. Enjoy those emotions.

The race cannot become a chore or it really doesn’t work for you. Do not focus on your time… all the time. Sometimes, the race you want to run simply doesn’t happen because of various reasons but don’t let that ruin your day. Running any marathon in any time is a serious effort and completing is something that millions of people never get to do.

So enjoy yourself.

Finally, don’t tire yourself out by walking around the city in the days leading up to the race. Try exploring after the event if you can and have the time.

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