Optimal pacing for a something that is very difficult, and those who really nail their marathon race plan are in quite rarified air, and are most likely also proficient in the dark arts. Coach Rob Dallimore takes you through his tips for nailing your Marathon race plan

Your race plan isn’t really something you figure out in the days before the race, but it may not be until then that you are 100% confident of the plan you will put into place.  A number of things may come into play in the days just before the race which may force you to alter that plan slightly.  But you should certainly have a target goal in mind, and have had plenty of time to mentally process and train for that goal.  Figure out the pace you will need to hold to achieve that, and visualise yourself knocking that goal down.

I have run a fair few marathons, and have still found it hard to pace perfectly.  There are so many variables that can affect the final outcome,  which means it’s hard for everything to align and for that ultimate race plan to unfold for you.  But we love a challenge, and that’s part of the reason we run a marathon.  The important thing, is you shouldn’t just have one plan, you should have considered scenarios that may occur along the way potentially throwing a spanner in the works.  Be ready for these curve balls and you are armed with a series of quick decisions you can make on the fly.

Use this Marathon pace schedule to give yourself some splits to keep in mind so you know the approximate pace you should be holding for your goal time

Here are a few tips that I keep in mind when forming a marathon race plan

Know the course

This goes without saying really, but you will be surprised how many people turn up to an event not being aware it may run up hill for the first section, or there maybe a tendency for a strong headwind, or even a trail section to negotiate.  Knowing the course, and even practicing on it will allow you to understand what’s realistic for you on race day.

Hold yourself back….for longer than you think you should

Most people start a marathon too fast, nearly everyone will slow down.  The ones who perform the best are the ones who slow down the least.  Consider for the first third of the race that you should be running a bit easier than you would expect to.  The middle third you want to settle into a still comfortable, but slightly faster pace.  For the final third you need to be digging deep with your effort, but expect that your pace may actually be slowing down a bit just due to the effects of the accumulating fatigue….minimise how much you slow down by pacing smartly at the start, and by taking on nutrition as your body requires it.

It’s very hard to run a negative split, and may not be the best plan

Very few people will run a negative split, but the reality with these people who do so may well have actually held back too much at the start.  Whilst they may feel pretty good in the closing stages, just the physical demands of the kms leading up to that point means they aren’t able to move any faster, or their technique has diminished leading to cramp.  Frustratingly they may finish feeling good, but unable to run faster.  A mush better plan is to run either an even, or slightly positive split, so the 2nd half is only 1-2% slower than the first half.  Of course you will be digging it in over the closing stages, but you should still feel you have good rhythm and pace, and you will most likely be running past plenty of people who went out way too fast.

Be realistic

Reflect on the training you have done.  If you are asking your body to run at a faster pace than a duration you’ve done before then you are heading into unchartered territory and you can’t be confident you will make it.  If you aim to start at a pace and with a goal that is realistic to your fitness then you have a bit of wriggle room to speed up or slow down later in the event if you feel you need to.  Using data such as pace, power or heart rate are very useful as you know what you have been able to do in training, and from there you can extrapolate that out to the expected duration of the marathon….the best thing here is to have done a series of Time Trials in training to gather information on how you are feeling in the workout, and therefore likely to feel in the race.

Keep cool

This is very important, and even in rather cold conditions, physical exercise can drive our core body temperature up making it harder to run at a desired effort.  This is the reason why elite marathon runners want to run in calm cold conditions, and tend to wear loose minimal clothing, so there is a lot of skin exposed for thermoregulation.  The most effective way to keep your core body temperature down is to keep the surface of your skin damp, especially your head.  If your brain feels cooler then it will give a total sensation of feeling cooler, and if your skin is wet then evaporation of that moisture will draw heat away from your core.  This method is actually more effective than drinking more water, which has the side effect of increasing stomach contents, and sloshing around when running.  Also too much water can lead to an electrolyte imbalance, potentially resulting in a very dangerous condition called hyponatraemia.

Fuel

This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of your race day plan.  Get this wrong and you may finish the event underperforming, or worse, not even finishing at all.  The amount of calories you will require to fuel your body will depend on how fast you are running.  The faster you run, the more calories you burn.  Sower runners won’t burn as much per hour but remember you will be out for longer, so in the end you may be taking a similar overall caloric amount.  Think what you have taken on in training, and is this going to be sufficient for the performance on race day?  The other thing to consider is what your work rate.  The faster you run the harder it is to take fuel on, so you are likely to be using simply sports drink, gels and maybe coca-cola, with water interspersed.  Slower runners may find they can consume more normal food such as energy bars, bananas, lollies etc, interspersed with water.  For a more detailed run down of feeling for running events, have a read of this article.

Cramp

This is something we don’t actually know much about, but it can really throw a spanner in the works of a marathon race plan.  One thing for sure though, is cramp will come about when a muscle has been asked to work for longer and harder than it is trained for.  So if you start too fast, or encounter some terrain you haven’t trained for, then you may suffer from cramp.  The best way to deal with it is to slow down, try to relax and not tighten up the affected muscles and use products such as Cramp Fix to help relieve the symptoms.  It actually is possible to pass through cramp provided there’s been no damage to the affected muscles.

Keep in mind that you may not nail your marathon plan first up, as mentioned, there are a lot of variables that can come into play.  But if you have a list of potential scenarios and ways to deal with them then you can get back on track quickly with minimal effect to the overall goal.  But when you do nail it know that you have achieved something very special and actually quite difficult. 

A marathon is tough, but you knew this when you signed up for it……Enjoy the process!