How to Choose a Marathon

The first step in starting your marathon journey is choosing a marathon! There are hundreds of marathons held every year all over the world, from the “Big Five” (Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London and New York City) to smaller, local events held just about everywhere. We suggest considering the following factors when selecting your race:

Time Frame

The standard amount of time needed to prepare for a marathon usually falls around sixteen weeks, assuming a good base level of fitness. Can you train for a marathon in six weeks? It’s possible, but it probably won’t be much fun—and you’ll run the risk of injury by compressing your time frame. To feel prepared and strong on race day, it’s ideal to choose a marathon that you’ll have at least four months to train for.

Qualifying Time

Entrants must qualify for many of the “big five” marathons, among others. This serves to limit field sizes, and typically makes a marathon faster and more competitive. For example, the qualifying time for men 35 to 39 in the 2019 Boston Marathon was 3:10:00—which means logging at least a 7:15 mile pace for the duration of the race. For some runners, the qualification factor makes a race more attractive, but for others (especially newer marathoners), it might be best to choose a marathon without qualification requirements for a more relaxed atmosphere.

Location

Location is important when it comes to a marathon. Terrain and climate can vastly change the character of a race, and travel (while fun) can create logistical challenges. Will you be bringing your family and friends with you for support? Is the terrain of the race similar to the terrain you’ll have access to for training? Will your marathon be a hot race or a cold one? Will altitude be a factor? All of these are important questions to ask yourself when choosing your marathon.

Size

Some races see thousands of entrants while others attract a couple hundred. It’s your choice whether you want a smaller, more intimate race, or prefer to join a sea of runners.

X-Factor

Don’t forget, you’ll have 26.2 miles to contemplate why you’re running this marathon. It helps if the race has some personal meaning to you! If you need a good place to start, these are world-renowned marathoner and coach Hal Higdon’s top ten favorite marathons.

Do you have the time?

Preparing for a marathon is a serious undertaking. You’ll be building your mileage to about 50 miles per week, and you’ll need time to focus on nutrition, recovery, and potentially even travel to runnable routes. If you’re also juggling work and family obligations, you may need to do some prioritizing to get your training completed.

Of course, most marathoners deal with logistical challenges, and many still run blazing-fast times. A tight schedule doesn’t necessarily spell disaster for your marathon dreams, but it’s wise to take an objective look at the time you have available and be realistic about the demands of training.

Setting Marathon Goals

Every successful endeavor begins with a goal, and how you go about setting that goal can play a big part in whether or not you reach it. Below you’ll find some strategies for deciding what will make your marathon successful to you.

Coach Carrie McCusker recommends visualizing how success will feel to you, then setting both externally and internally measurable goals. External goals are the quantifiable, outcome-oriented goals most of us are familiar with, and could include things like a specific finishing time, a place on the podium, or a goal pace.

Internal goals are a little less glamorous but no less important—McCusker calls them “process” goals, and they have more to do with your mental and emotional state en-route to your external goals. Examples of internal goals could be to stay positive through the race, to be more resilient when the unexpected occurs, or to listen more carefully to your nutritional needs.

Once you’ve set your goals in both categories (and ideally written them down somewhere!), you’ll need a road map to reach them. This guide is a good start, but it’s likely you’ll want more detail for your day-to-day training. Many athletes will reach out to a coach at this point to guide them through the process and hold them accountable. There are also marathon training plans offered online (including in the TrainingPeaks store) for runners of all levels.

Marathon Training Gear

Luckily, running is a relatively inexpensive and simple sport to get into. Here are some quick notes on the gear you’ll need to run a marathon:

Shoes

Shoes are the most important piece of gear in your running kit, and you’ll want to spend money on a good pair. If you haven’t already, go to your local running shop and get a gait analysis to determine which shoe is best for your stride, and remember, more cushioning isn’t always better. The shoe that works best for you will depend on your particular physiology and stride—and you’ll be spending a lot of time together so you’ll want to be happy with them!

It’s also a good idea to get more than one pair of running shoes, so you can cycle them based on mileage (you’ll want to replace your shoes every 200 to 400 miles). When one pair is on its way out, you can be breaking in the next pair to ensure you don’t end up on the start line in a pair of brand new running shoes!

Hydration System

As you get into multi-hour runs with extended mileage, you’ll need a system to bring fuel and water with you. A hydration waist belt can store 1-2 standard bottles, but can bounce while running, especially when fully loaded. A handheld bottle is another option, and some handles include a pouch for nutrition or a credit card as well. One bottle may not be enough for a longer run. A well-fitted hydration vest is a good, low-bounce option for when you need to carry food, extra water, and even layers with you. But it can be somewhat bulky depending on the design and brand you choose. Whichever system you go with, make sure you test it thoroughly before race day.

Clothing

Clothing for running is relatively straightforward. Choose pieces that are light and breathable, and that you feel comfortable and happy wearing. Again, you’ll be spending many miles together, so make sure you have support where you need it and ventilation where it counts! For cold weather running, remember you’ll be generating a lot of heat once you get moving. You might be surprised how light you can layer even when it feels cold outside!

Sun Protection

Wear your sunscreen, get a hat, and find a pair of sunglasses that won’t bounce or slide off your face. You’ll be more comfortable on long runs, and you’ll recover better if you’re not dealing with a sunburn!

Fitness Tracker

It’s your choice how you and your coach choose to use data, but we recommend at least training with heart rate. You’ll be able to use this single metric to gauge your training stress, measure progress, and even figure out when you’re getting sick before the first symptoms hit. Some wrist-based heart rate monitors don’t even require a chest strap!

You can take your tracking to the next level with GPS data, which will give you your distance, pace, elevation, and other valuable metrics to track your progress.

Ready to get running? Head to the next section to learn the fundamentals of marathon training.

Marathon Training Fundamentals: Base Miles

Why: Increase aerobic capacity, gradually increase mileage to reach 30 to 35 miles/week over the first eight weeks of training.

When: Emphasis is on the first eight weeks of training, with base workouts continuing until race day.

How: Consistently add 10 percent distance or time to your weekly total, focusing on running in your aerobic zones.

Goal: Work up to being able to run comfortably for an hour.

Base training, or building volume, is a great way to get your body used to the demands of running longer distances. It consists of long, slow workouts designed to help you build your aerobic capacity. By keeping your heart rate relatively low for a long period of time, you’ll train your body to process oxygen more efficiently and metabolize fat for fuel (rather than quick-burning carbohydrates).

You might be surprised at how slow you actually need to run to avoid going anaerobic, but it’s worth it to slow down—even if it means walking—to stay in an aerobic zone. See our quick guide to setting heart rate zones if you’re not sure what this means. Your body will gradually adapt, and soon you’ll be running the same pace with a lower, more sustainable heart rate.

You’ll almost want to do only base training workouts in the first few weeks of training, and it’s important to keep a day or two dedicated to long slow efforts every week throughout your marathon training. You’ll rely on this aerobic conditioning when you’re running your marathon.

Slow Burn: Marathon Base Training Nutrition

Because aerobic training causes increased fat metabolization, you want to make sure you’re fuelling with plenty of healthy fats throughout the day. While you don’t necessarily want to eat a slab of salmon and avocado right before your run, definitely make sure you’re including those good fats with your meals.

Base training is also a great time to dial in your run nutrition. Because you’ll be logging your longest miles at base pace, these workouts are a good time to see what your stomach can tolerate over time. Experiment with liquid and solid calories. You may find that sugary foods and drinks give you gas, which means you might want to try starchier carbohydrates. Or, you might find that you absolutely NEED a coke and some potato chips after the first hour. Every stomach is different, and it’s only through trial and error that you’ll find out what works for you.

Introduction to Speedwork

A good introductory interval workout might look like this:

Session:

• 10-minute warm-up jog – building from Zone 1 to 2
•  Five sets of 60 seconds Zone 4-5 effort,  Followed by two minutes easy – Zone 1
• 10-minute warm-down jog

How Running Intervals Work

Intervals essentially teach your body how to go faster. When you increase your pace, your muscles will demand more oxygen to keep functioning. You’ll end up breathing harder to bring more oxygen into your lungs, and your heart will beat faster to deliver that oxygen to your muscles. At a certain pace, however, your muscles won’t have enough oxygen to process energy aerobically (called aerobic cellular respiration), so they’ll switch into anaerobic cellular respiration instead—handy, right?

Well, sort of. The byproduct of anaerobic cellular respiration is lactate which, at a high enough concentration, will limit the capacity of work your muscle can do. Without lactate, you’d basically be able to sprint forever, but because we’re stuck with it, we have to do the next best thing: train our bodies to clear it away efficiently.

When you do a hard interval and recover, you’re teaching your body how to build and clear lactate. You’re also effectively raising the threshold where your cells switch from aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration (this is called your lactic threshold).

Simply put: if you can run harder without going anaerobic and producing lactate, you can run harder for longer.

Example Workout from coach Andrew Simmons:

Session:

4-5 x 1,200-meter or 3:00- to 5:00-minute efforts on short recoveries (one- to two-minute recovery)

You’ll want to integrate these workouts early on in your build phase to increase your ability to handle larger loads at pace, and to prime the body’s faculties to buffer lactate. Skipping these workouts and going directly into short, fast reps will lead to an early peak or burnout.

The recovery here is normally done as a jog or light run, but you can also use a walk or static recovery as you build your endurance. Run these efforts at half marathon to 15-kilometer pace to keep lactate levels low to moderate. Progressive intervals in this workout are key, especially if it’s early in your training cycle. -A.S. (see full article here)

Rocket Fuel: Interval Training Nutrition

For faster, shorter workouts, the body prefers to have quick energy available, so carbohydrates (both simple and complex) are important on interval days. Bread, rice, and fruit are easy to include with meals, and you might find that a gel or other “energy” food is helpful during or immediately before your workout.

Also, keep in mind that intervals will thoroughly deplete your muscle glycogen, which is the main fuel source your muscles rely on to function properly under stress. It’s important to eat within an hour after every workout to replenish glycogen stores, and this rule is especially critical when it comes to intervals. Don’t negate your hard work with poorly-planned nutrition!

Marathon Training Fundamentals: Building Mileage

How many intervals should you do relative to your long, easy base runs? Coach Matt Fitzgerald has written extensively about the 80/20 rule, which is based on the idea that ideal athletic adaptation comes when 80 percent of training is done at a sub-threshold pace, and 20 percent is done above threshold.

The 80/20 Rule

•  Time spent on interval training
•  Time spent on long, easy running

In other words, intervals should account for about 20 percent of your training in order to gain the maximum benefits of both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. The rest of the time you should be working on long, easy running as you increase your body’s tolerance to extended mileage.

Get specific 80/20 Run Training Plans here.

Again, you’ll want to add around 10 percent to your weekly time or distance total to execute a good build. Add more and you risk overdoing it; add less and you won’t be stressing your body enough to create the right adaptations.

Every three to four weeks, you’ll also want to give yourself a “recovery” week and not add any distance or mileage. You might even decrease in this period to give your body time to catch up. This is the basic idea of periodized training, and it’s something a coach can help you plan and execute.

Once you’ve built to 18 to 20 miles on your long runs, it’s time to plan the longest run you’ll do before your race. This usually takes place about four to six weeks before race day and should be between 20 and 22 miles long. The next section will give you the rundown on planning and executing a successful long run.

Make a backup plan

A lot can happen on a long run, so tell your support system when you’ll be running, where you’ll be, and when you plan to be back. Bring a phone in case you need to make an emergency call, and make sure whoever you plan to contact knows to pick up their phone!

You’ll also want to check the weather carefully and dress accordingly. If the conditions will change while you’re running, make sure to bring layers or stash them somewhere on your route. It can be helpful to choose a route that loops back over the same place a few times, that way you can park a car there with snacks, water, and extra clothing you might need over the course of your run.

Enlist your friends!

One of the best ways to melt miles is to run with a friend. Just make sure your running buddy has a similar pace and goals—you might end up running a lot slower or faster than you planned, or focusing on your friend rather than your own training.

If you don’t want to subject your friends to your pace, try joining a running group. Local clubs, shops, Facebook groups, and even triathlon clubs will often start training groups around the bigger marathons, which can help you find runners with similar pace and mileage goals. Plus, they’ll most likely have valuable marathon experience to share! Some group runs will even set up routes and aid stations for their long runs, which can save you the logistical wrangling.

Pay Attention to How You Feel

Don’t get discouraged if your long run doesn’t feel good. It’s supposed to be challenging! Most marathoners will tell you that the hardest part of the race is the last six miles, which can be difficult to truly understand if you’ve never run that far. Giving yourself an idea of how you’ll be feeling mentally and physically at mile 20 to 22 will prepare you for the last push of your race.

Once you’ve completed your long run, it’s almost time to taper! Head to the next section to learn what you need to know about resting up for race day.

It’s important to remember during your taper that your caloric expenditures won’t be the same as when you were revving up your metabolism with long runs and speedwork. Don’t fall into the trap of eating as you habitually would during hard training (i.e. a lot). Instead, focus on lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially those with anti-inflammatory or antioxidant properties, which will help optimize your recovery. Think of this period as a time to be gentle with your body and digestive system.

The Week Before The Race

The last few days before a race can be some of the hardest, as training hours decrease and nerves escalate. To keep yourself from stressing out or second-guessing your training, it can help to focus instead on race-day logistics. Here are some ideas:

Thoroughly Read the Race Materials

These will have all the important information about parking/shuttles, drop bags, number/bib placement, timing chips, and other last-minute questions you want to have answered before race day.

For example, do you know where the aid stations will be? Do you know what they’ll be stocked with? You’ll want to plan ahead of time how much you’ll rely on aid stations for your nutrition and hydration.

Do a Marathon-Specific Grocery Run

This is a good time to shop and plan your race nutrition, from dinner before the race (see the next section for ideas!) to your post-race snack. Make sure you have lots of portable, quick options you know will agree with your stomach and fuel you adequately.

Check the Weather Forecast

Do you have the right gear for the course and conditions? Many races with cold starts will have a “donation box” a few kilometers into the race, where you can drop layers. If this is the case, you’ll want to bring some old warm-up clothes you don’t mind discarding.

Make a Travel Kit

If traveling, do you have everything you need for a smooth and comfortable trip? Travel is a vulnerable time—you’ll likely be changing your sleep patterns and exposing yourself to plenty of new germs. It’s a good idea to adjust your sleep as much as you can beforehand, and travel with a kit of snacks and toiletries. Coach Tatjana Ivanova offers some great travel hacks for athletes to stay healthy, no matter what happens en route to your race.

Make a Mental Plan

What mile will be the most challenging and how will you get through it? Do you have your mantras ready? Sometimes even planning a walk break where you anticipate needing one can help avoid disappointment on race day.

Finish Your Final Workouts

Depending on your coach and/or training plan, you’ll most likely have some tune-up interval workouts in the final days leading up to the race. These will clear out your muscles and prime your system for the effort ahead. Some athletes feel terrible after their taper, and others will feel amazing. Whichever type you are, try your best to stick to your plan and trust yourself! You’ve done all the hard work already.

Ready for race day? Continue to the next section for race-tested techniques to get you from start to finish with (relative) ease.

The Night Before the Race:

The night before the race is your last chance to gather your gear and top off your energy reserves with great food and sleep.

Beyond Carbo-Loading—Your Ideal Pre-Marathon Dinner:

While you’ve probably heard of “carbo-loading” with a massive pasta dinner, it’s actually more beneficial (especially when it comes to distance efforts) to stick with something your stomach is used to, and a quantity you’re used to eating. The idea is to have dinner completely digested before you wake up, so you can do a quick, belly-friendly breakfast to top off before your race. You want to feel nourished — not stuffed.

Don’t have that go-to meal yet? An easy way to build your meal it to shoot for a nice mix of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat), with more of an emphasis on carbohydrates and less on protein, which will take longer to digest.

Carbohydrates

When choosing a carbohydrate, rice is a popular option because it’s gentle on the stomach, quickly processed, and tastes good with pretty much every other food. White pasta and bread can be good choices as well. Be careful with more complex carbohydrates like whole grain bread/pasta, quinoa, gnocchi, etc. These will take longer to digest and could sit in your stomach into your race, causing GI distress.

Protein

Everyone will have a different approach with protein, but in general you’ll want to avoid red meat, which can increase inflammation and be difficult to digest. Chicken or fish in small quantities can be tasty and filling, and vegetarians can go for legumes like cashews, peanuts, or peas.

Fat

When choosing a fat, stick with unsaturated types, which are easier for your body to process and use. Think olive oil, avocado, salmon, and nut butter. Try to avoid large amounts of heavy cheese or butter.

Choose vegetables found on the bland diet, like beets, carrots, green beans, peas, white or sweet potatoes, spinach, and pumpkin. Avoid cruciferous vegetables like brussels sprouts, broccoli, and kale, which are more difficult to digest and can cause gas.

Having Trouble Sleeping? Try these tips:

Everyone knows it’s important to sleep before a big race, which can sometimes make it impossible to do. If you tend to get pre-race insomnia, here are some tips to get some quality z’s no matter what:

• Turn off your electronic devices two hours before you want to be asleep. Read a book instead, and avoid the circadian-disrupting effects of blue light.
• Drink a relaxing herbal tea.
• Meditate. If you’ve never tried it before, there are some great guided meditations online and through apps
• Use supplements like melatonin or CBD— but only if you’re familiar with the effects and the dosage you can tolerate. Too much melatonin can leave you groggy in the morning!

Before The Start:

• Make sure to have a breakfast you’ve tested for training runs, and that you know will agree with your stomach. If you usually have coffee, have coffee. Race day is not the day to try something new.
• In addition to your race nutrition (check out that section here), remember to pack an extra water bottle and a snack (or even your full breakfast) for your trip to the race start.
  To time your breakfast so it will be fully digested before you start running (2.5-4 hours before your start), you may need to eat at the venue or on your way there.
• Scope out the bathroom situation, and have a back up (coffee shop? Gas station?) if the race port-a-potties are full.
• Don’t stress about nerves — everyone gets them. Find a quiet spot away from the venue to sit down and focus if that helps you, or make a new friend and have a chat. Everyone deals with nerves differently!
• Find a quiet road or bike path to get a light warm-up, including some surges to help prepare your legs for the effort ahead. Only stretch if it’s something you’ve done for training runs.

You Got This! Run That Marathon!

After the start gun, it’s time to let all the hard work you’ve done carry you through the day. When your logistics are dialed, and your fitness is (hopefully!) where you want it to be, all you have to do is get through your marathon!

Remember to stick to your pacing plan, even if you feel amazing. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the runners around you, but a little discipline at the start will pay dividends by the end of the race.

When it gets hard, remember this is the moment you trained for! If you have a mantra, now is the time to use it. If you have to walk (or planned to walk), remember your race isn’t over — you can always get a second wind!

Once you’ve crossed the finished line, hugged your friends and family, and had a frosty beverage of your choice, head to the next section to find our best recovery tips and next (potentially wobbly) steps.

Race Hard, Recover Harder

After your marathon, you will need to recover before you start training again. It’s important to give your body this time to repair itself after what was most likely a very challenging effort! Newer marathoners usually need to recover for a week to ten days before running again, while more experienced runners will likely feel ready more quickly.

You may or may not want to hear this — recovery doesn’t just mean laying around in bed! Here are some steps you can take to make your post-marathon recovery more effective (and interesting!).

Get on a bike: Increasing blood flow will help move the byproducts from your marathon out of your muscles, and cycling is a great way to do it in a low-impact way. If you’re feeling stiff and sore after your marathon, try a 30-minute spin on a stationary bike, or head outdoors for some fresh air.

Sign up for a yoga class: Yin yoga is a great choice for recovery, because it involves more passive stretching than the strength-intensive poses you’ll find in a vinyasa flow class. It’s also a great way to check in with any pain points or imbalances in your body after your marathon.

Treat yo’self: A massage, acupuncture, or a pedicure never feels better than after you’ve tortured yourself for 26.2 miles. Other than a nice indulgence, a treat like this for your body is a way to mentally acknowledge the hard work you’ve done and to reward yourself for it before you get back to work!

Eat well: After burning all those calories, chances are you want to reach for the saltiest, fattiest burger (or veggie burger) you can get your hands on. And while there’s nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with a satisfying post-race meal, you’ll be better served in your long-term recovery if you focus on inflammation-reducing foods. Load up on antioxidant-rich options like blueberries, dark-green vegetables, nuts, and fish for the nutrients your body needs to recover faster.

Prioritize sleep: Often neglected in favor of more active recovery tools like self-massage and diet, sleeping is actually one of the most effective things you can do to help your body recover. So take a nap, hit snooze, and try to get to bed early. Sleep is a powerful regenerative force for your entire body, and the more you get the faster you’ll feel recovered.