A typical marathon-training schedule involves several months of increasing mileage. But the physical gains you earn from all of those runs are only part of the equation that can make or break your race. It’s about developing the confidence, adaptability, and mental resilience to handle whatever challenges arise along the way.” Because if there’s one guarantee in the marathon, it’s that something unexpected will come your way.
To help you prepare for any scenario that pops up during your 26.2, we tapped three run coaches for their insights about what marathoners tend to report back to them postrace—the things that surprised them, the mindsets that helped them when the miles got grueling, and what they wish they’d known sooner to make the race go smoother. Use this roundup of lessons they’ve learned along the way as your cheat sheet for a faster finish and more gratifying race day overall. By the time the race starts, you’ve already spent several hours managing logistics, anticipation, and nervous energy.” This can be true regardless of your race, even if you’re not tackling one of the World Marathon Majors, but many of those races offer particularly difficult starts.
A little extra planning can help make all of those prerace moments feel more streamlined and less mentally taxing. Wilpers suggests treating the hours before the start as part of your race plan. Getting caught up in the excitement early on in a race is natural, and “it’s easy to let that excitement dictate your pace,” says Reznik.
If there’s any decline in the opening sections of your marathon (like the second mile of the NYC Marathon), it tends to be that much more difficult to restrain yourself and settle into a controlled rhythm. Plan to begin slightly slower than your goal pace, advises Wilpers, and allow yourself to warm up when you’re in the race rather than forcing the pace from the beginning. Practicing holding back during long training runs will help it feel natural on race day and not leave you anxious about getting behind on your goal time.
Many runners report being shocked at how crowded the big races can be and how much tougher that makes it to hit a personal record or goal pace, says Laura Norris, owner and coach at Laura Norris Running in Boulder, Colorado. It’s common to bob and weave around runners to maintain your pace, especially during the early miles of a race before the crowd has thinned out. Reznik recommends looking ahead several steps and anticipating your next move rather than keeping your eyes down and having to constantly react to the runner directly in front of you.
It’s also helpful to run the tangents when possible. How that makes you feel can go either way: It can feel upsetting or it can help you put your own race into perspective and realize you might be doing better than you thought. Either way, she says, it can be jarring, especially because marathon running is such a mental game.
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