Not asking for myself but my husband will be running this for the first time next weekend!😀😬
I know that most training plans take you up to 18-20 miles for the longest run and his training has gone well - trained up to 19 miles prior to tapering.
My question is - how tough is it to add on the remaining 7 miles on the big day?! Did you run-walk it, how do people generally manage? I know the atmosphere will help to a degree but what plans should he have for when the going gets tough!
Thank you in advance.🙂
Written by
Sandraj39
Half Marathon
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I have very little experience, having covered the distance just once in the virtual London Marathon last year. Our longest training run was just 32km and finding the extra 10k really wasn't a problem - the atmosphere of the day (even as a virtual event) was definitely enough. We always planned to run/walk, and just stuck to that plan throughout.Yesterday my partner in that run ran a 52k ultra marathon alone (I had to defer my place), Her longest training run had been 31k and the actual route included killer hills that she hadn't had in her longest training run. She found it very tough at the end, but somehow she found an extra 21k in the atmosphere of the day.
Your husband has done his training. Now all he has to do is to believe in himself (and his biggest supporter!). Good luck to him. I hope you both really enjoy the day.
Hi Sandra,It's the freshness (recovery) that the taper induces that allows the extra distance to be done at race pace (hopefully) on race day.
3 or 4 weeks out, when taper starts, is when you've reached peak fitness and *tiredness* - it's at that point that you back off and allow your body to recover so that it's fresh and recovered enough from that peak tiredness. Judging your ability to complete 26.2 miles based on how you feel at 19 miles of your last long training run is to misunderstand the process and the reason for the taper. Understandable though.
Here's a good quote from Shona Hanson, a recovery expert:
"The only training you're benefiting from , is the training you're recovering from" - there's no benefit if you don't recovery properly. Hence the taper and hence why that extra mileage beyond 19, 20, should be fine, as long as pacing strategy has been sensible and adhered to!
It's very very easy to go off too quickly - that's fine in a 5, 10k or half - you can hang on. Doesn't work in a marathon . So make an extra special effort to keep the first 1 or 2 miles nice and slow.
Remember: it's a 20 mile warm-up for a 10km race So if you get the pace right over that first 20 miles, then the rest *should* be ok ... but it's going to be painful nonetheless. Many ways to skin the proverbial though ...
Thanks John, that all makes sense - particularly about the taper and freshness in legs. He has actually recovered well from all his long runs so hopefully the taper will be what allows the extra distance! I have never trained for a marathon (and am unlikely to!) but when I ran the Bath HM a few years ago, I had a longer taper than planned, due to illness. I had already hit the 13 miles twice in training(🤷♀️) before tapering and arrived at the start line fresh as a daisy and ran a PB! So yes, what you say makes sense.
I too did the virtual vlm last year, and my last long run was 20 miles.....although in hindsight I probably could have done with a longer taper....it was definitely run/ walk...on the day ..the weather was awful and our planned route was a lot of cross country, which, by the time we were getting near the end was like mud slides.....we were lucky to keep upright, let alone run! 😂
To me, getting to the 20/22 miles was the booster, I knew there wasn’t that much more to go and it was fine, rather emotional, but fine
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So if you get the pace right over that first 20 miles, then the rest *should* be ok ... but it's going to be painful nonetheless. Many ways to skin the proverbial though ...
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