Marathon Training Clinic #5

East River Park Track Club

Marathon Training Clinic #5

So you made it through months of training and have built up significant mileage and improved your overall physical condition. Now you are at the point where you need to shift your focus to tapering your training until the marathon. Remember at this point, there isn't anything you can really do to help yourself with the marathon except getting your body rested.

Tapering Weeks

• Tapering is the reduction in training while maintaining training intensity.

• Tapering will maximize your performance come marathon day.

• 40% reduction of peak weekly mileage or duration first week.

• 60% reduction of peak weekly mileage or duration second week.

• Restore blood glycogen levels.

• Rest the body. Heal injuries.

• Muscles will actually grow during the taper weeks.

• Keep up with your training schedule. You shouldn't break your routine.

• Do a short marathon pace tempo run in each week to keep yourself sharp. No longer than 45 minutes the first taper week and 30 minutes the final taper week.

• No new is good new.

• Stretch every day or even twice a day.

• Have some massage therapy. Because you want to have happy muscles.

• Icing or ice baths will help relieve those aches and soothe your muscles.

• Eat healthy and drink plenty of water. You will need to reduce your calorie intake to suit the amount of training.

• Meet your daily nutritional requirements. Don't taper the carbs!

• Rest and get quality sleep.

   

Understanding Carbo-loading

• Carbo-loading is the process of loading your carbohydrate stores in your muscles and liver.

• Carbohydrate stores are smaller than fat stores and must be used last. This is why smart pacing is important. If you run too fast, you will deplete your carbohydrate stores to early and “hit the wall.”

• The carbo-loading process starts 36 hours before the event and ends 12 hours before the event. This is the required time period for your body to turn the food into useful fuel at marathon time.

• Eat mostly high-glycemic carbohydrates like baked potatoes, pumpernickel bread, pretzels etc.

• “Hitting the wall” is the depletion of carbohydrate stores in the leg muscles and liver.

• Carbo-loading does not entirely work. Because once you are "toppped off" you are topped off from storing any more glycogen. What matters most is your diet and training. If you have trained properly, your body will use fat it's most abundant source of fuel first. Marathoners that have a long run 20 miles or less are usually the ones to “hit the wall” first.

• The best strategy is to meet your required daily carbohydrates intake so there is no need for carbo-loading.

• Use the Running Endurance Calculator to figure out your carbo-loading requirements http://endurancecalculator.com/EnduranceCalculatorForm.html (kcal = 1,000 calories)

Finding Your Pace

Hopefully you have run a half-marathon with an all out effort at least a month prior to the marathon. If you slow down 5% you can go twice as far. You determine the marathon pace by multplying half-marathon mile pace pace by 5%, add it to the half pace, and you will have your marathon pace. You could also use the The Team Oregon Pace Wizard or McMillian Running Calculator to determine your pace. You can't use race times that are 6 months or a year old to determine your pace. Those would be too old. Too much could have changed since then.

Pre-Marathon Evening Meal

• High carbohydrates 200 - 300 grams – Baked potato is the best choice. You can't load up on low glycemic carbs like brown rice. White rice, pasta and white flour are not good choices.

• Get more carbohydrates from snacks! Pretzels are a great choice.

• East some protein. Easy on the protein.

• Easy on the fiber!

• Vegetables need to be included. Spinach is the vegetable of choice.

• Drink plenty of fluids.

Pre- Marathon Morning Meal

• High calorie and carbohydrates. 400 calories and 75 grams of carbohydrates.

• Easy on the protein. Easy on the fiber.

• Bagels, peanut butter and jelly on toast, orange juice, bananas, yogurt.

• Drink 16 – 20 fluid ounces of water 2 - 3 hours before the race.

• 1 to 2 packets of Generation UCAN an hour before the marathon will give you enough fuel for up to 3 hours or longer.

During Marathon Nutrition

• Hydrate early and often. Grab a drink at least every 3 miles and at least 18 fluid ounces of water an hour.

• Drink a sport drink with electrolyte once an hour to replace salt.

• Bring a 6 ounce flask with Generation UCAN and take half way through the maratrhon.

• Energy gels with make you crash and burn. You will to keep on taking them to perform.

Post- Marathon

• Carbs and protein

• Drink a Myoplex or Generation UCAN with protein after the marathon to replenish.

• Drink a sport drink and water.

What to Wear

• Less is best. You want to keep your body cool.

• Chose clothing with breathable materials.

• Wear the shoes you have been training to use for the marathon. Do not use new shoes.

• Don't wear anything around your waist. Except for a light running belt you can put your gels or personals in.

• Sunglasses or a hat if it is sunny.

• Always check the weather forecast!

• To stay warm before the marathon, bring sweats to the start of the marathon you can toss away.