How to Prepare for a Marathon Properly

Get Fast Podcast, Ep 167, with Gerard and Jordan Donnelly

Start with a goal that fits your running history, and give yourself more time than you think you need. Build your long run gradually, by time instead of distance, and keep it easy enough that you can train consistently around it. On race day, follow a plan you know is realistic and be patient. Gerard Donnelly says the marathon is the event where pacing matters most.

What makes the marathon so hard?

Pacing. Gerard says you want to give your best from the start, but unless you pace it, you'll be destroyed and slower than you wanted. The longer the event, the longer you suffer for a mistake. His advice is to respect the marathon more than anything else you do.

What did Gerard learn from his own marathons?

After his triathlon career, Gerard set a three-year plan to run around 2:30. For the first marathon of that plan, he ran a 1:12 half marathon in the build-up and aimed for 2:48, at four minutes per kilometre.

The race was Frankston to Melbourne, into a headwind the whole way. With about 6 km to go he was on target, when a group of his mates tipped a bucket of iced water over him. Within two kilometres he had full-body cramp. He finished in three hours and 15 seconds. He puts it down to the sudden change in body temperature.

His next marathon was comfortably under 2:40, and the one after was in the low 2:30s. He says it takes layer upon layer of experience to get the outcome you want.

How long do you need to prepare?

The first question Gerard asks is your goal. The second is your running history. With both, he can tell you whether the goal fits. He never says you have no chance, only that you have no chance for that date.

There's good news for newer runners: you improve fastest when you're new. Jordan says a 24-week program with proper progression will leave you feeling like a different person. The more time you allow, the slower you can progress, and rushing raises your risk of injury. An experienced runner who already has the base might only need around eight weeks of fine-tuning.

If you're a complete novice, Gerard's advice is to aim for a 5 km parkrun first, then a 10K, then a half marathon, and the marathon after that.

How should you build your long run?

The long run is the key session of the week, and everything else is there to help you recover from it and get ready for the next one.

• Run to time instead of distance. Long runs at race distance or race pace take so long to recover from that you can't keep training.
• Keep it easy and hilly. Mostly zone two, with hills for strength, so you can back up for your next run.
• Protect your consistency. Gerard says frequency, lining up session after session, is the key to every program.
• Peak about six weeks out. Do your longest run around six weeks before the race. In the weeks after, the long runs get shorter and the intensity rises, with race pace practised for shorter times.

What does a training week look like?

Gerard's sessions for marathon training:

• Endurance run: time on your feet in the hills, mostly zone two.
• Recovery or cross-training: a swim, an easy spin or a walk, all in zone one, to get blood flowing to repair your legs.
• Tempo or sub-threshold: somewhere between your 10K and half marathon pace.
• Hill repeats by feel: run uphill at the effort that matches your target pace on the flat, even though your watch will show a slower pace.
• Marathon pace: so your body learns exactly what race pace feels like.

Avoid stacking hard days. If you run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Wednesday should be easy. Gerard says hill work is often the missing piece for runners who fade late in the race, because it builds the strength to hold pace when you're tired.

How should you run on race day?

Have a race plan you know is real, with evidence from training. Gerard's plan for one marathon was 18:30 per 5 km, and every 5 km he checked his split. Adjust your plan for headwinds, hills and downhills on your course.

Don't follow the start line. Gerard has seen hundreds of runners go out with an elite runner who was capable of a time none of them could match. You're fit and tapered, so the first 20 km should feel easier than any 20 km you've run for a long time. You'll think your plan is too slow. Stick to it.

During the race, keep checking in every 20 or 30 seconds: is my pace right, how's my heart rate, is this getting too hard? Look for someone running your pace to tuck in behind, and make sure your nutrition matches what you practised. If you want to push, wait until 35 km.

Before one athlete's sub-three-hour attempt, after he had missed by around 20 seconds before, Gerard's last advice was: "Have the confidence in your preparation, because you can do this."

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