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A successful marathon comes down to three things: sleep, nutrition, and pacing

A marathon is an extraordinary feat. Case in point, only 0.01 percent of the world’s population have ever done one. While this might seem like a daunting task, running 42 kilometers (or 42.125 kilometers to be exact) is not as unreachable as some might assume.

The end of the year is when a lot of local marathons take place. Of course, at this point, the assumption is that you’ve done your homework: You’ve covered the weekly mileage, done the long runs, and prepared your body as best as you could. With this in mind, here are a few tips to help you conquer the event from start to finish:

 

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Sleep

The race begins even before the gun goes off. Sleep during taper week is your best bet to finish strong. A lot of people worry about not being able to sleep the night before a race. Understandably so, this bout of insomnia comes from the anticipation, anxiety, and excitement of participating in such a huge undertaking.

Whether you’re a beginner or a veteran, from my own experience, it doesn’t change. The nerves, although more controlled, still bother me despite my close to two decades’ worth of experience. These emotions coupled with the fact that most local marathons take place close to midnight, don’t cooperate well with our desire to get some decent, quality sleep.

Sleep a lot during taper week and don’t worry about sleep the night before

My advice is simple: Sleep a lot during taper week and don’t worry about sleep the night before. Sleep is all about getting some rest so your body can recover. When you start tapering, your body feels out of sync and imbalanced. This is where crankiness, self-doubt, and even sluggishness set in. To help combat this, I suggest doing some meditation and other relaxation techniques as you drop mileage leading up to the race.

Don’t try to fill in your extra free time by doing other strenuous things; rather, use the time to rest, relax, and unwind. Start by going to bed early during your taper week (or weeks). Lay down a solid foundation of sleep such that catching Zs the night before won’t matter anymore.

Tip: Even if the race starts at midnight, prioritize getting enough sleep over adjusting your body clock to suit the race. This is unnecessary stress and would only make things worse. If you’re in a different time zone, arrive early, a good rule of thumb would be to arrive a day earlier for every hour you have to adjust to. On average this would mean traveling a week in advance. In case you don’t have the luxury, don’t attempt adjusting to the time zone and just prioritize sleep.

Nutrition

Most runners crash during a marathon due to improper nutrition rather than lack of fitness. Our body has a limited amount of carbohydrates. Usually, this pans out to around two hours of moderate or intense exercise. During training, our runs rarely exceed three hours, hence our body doesn’t really experience the sensation of having a severely depleted gas tank. To help prepare for this, I usually advise my athletes to “fat adapt” with the help of data from our lab tests. This can be achieved many ways: Doing long runs (at the proper intensity) and being deliberate with fueling are a few things that are top of mind.

On race day, all the work is already in the bank and we can only rely on proper nutrition to help support our efforts. While this differs from person to person, on average, I would recommend taking a gel every 30 minutes; this is a lot and not really the most ideal situation. However, it’s a good balance in terms of being conservative. As you take any amount of fuel, take note of the importance of proper hydration.

Bring a water bottle and take small sips throughout the race—don’t just rely on the aid stations

Taking in water together with your gels is important. I wish to emphasize that water should be taken in and not any other sports drink as this can lead to bloating if mixed with gels. I recommend aiming for at least 600mL per hour and consider taking in up to a liter per hour if you sweat a lot or are on the bigger side.

Tip: Bring a water bottle and take small sips throughout the race. Don’t just rely on the aid stations as sometimes they can be far apart, depleted, or nonexistent.

Pacing

I can’t emphasize this enough. To finish a marathon comfortably, it’s all about proper pacing. Sometimes, we (including myself) become irrational during the start of the race. All the pent-up energy, the freshness we feel due to our well-executed taper, and the hyped-up atmosphere during the start all lead us to push harder than we should. We feel like unchained animals set free during the first kilometer but sadly end up deflated and disappointed by the 10th kilometer.

The marathon is a game of patience: All the long runs, busy weeks, and early mornings should develop resilience and discipline that we could tap into during race day. Ideally, a knowledgeable and experienced coach should guide you with respect to the race strategy. In the absence of one, my advice is to think of the race as a “32km warm-up followed by a 10km race.”

The marathon is a game of patience: All the long runs, busy weeks, and early mornings should develop resilience and discipline that we could tap into during race day

Pace yourself such that you have plenty left in the tank by 32km as this is where the fight happens. Remember that the final 10km feels as tough as a 10km time trial raced at maximum effort.

Tip: Start easy with an effort level of around 5/10 and build it up to 6 or 7/10 (depending on your experience). The last 10km usually feels like a 9 or 10/10 so mentally prepare for that as well!

At the end of the daygame ape, running a marathon is something we do for fun. Just remember that the toughest battle has already been won by doing the necessary training and setting foot on the start line. Anything from then onwards is just about executing what you’ve practiced, dialing in that mental toughness, and ironically, enjoying the journey. Wishing all of you the best of luck.

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