Running a marathon is hard. Like really, really hard.
It requires grit, resilience and of course, some serious training.
And when we're training, we can't just assume that all hard work is good work either.
Got to be smart about how we do the work. And in 2022, we're so lucky that our
smart watches can make sure we're working smarter and not harder towards achieving our marathon goals.
When you're training for a marathon, progress is not going to be linear. You'll have ups and downs,
you're striving to get 1% better every day. But this doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to
get 1% faster. Did I get better at recovery? Did I get better at pacing myself?
Did I get better at the mental aspects of this sport? Did I get better sleep? It's really
hard to stay on top of all of these things when we're training, especially as we're trying
to improve by 1% every single day.
Now, a lot of us already have smartwatches packed full of features, but perhaps we don't know which
ones are the best ones to take advantage of to support our training and racing. We've teamed up with Garmin to
highlight some of the areas you could look at. But we hope that these tips will support your training
no matter which one you have or are planning to get. Let's get into this.
Now, when it comes to running a marathon, training plans is one of the most important things because you need
to build structure and routine into your training for it. So consistency really is key when it comes to marathon training.
So where does your watch come into this? Well, you can set up workouts on your
watch so that it tells you what you ought to be doing. It doesn't matter what kind of plan you're
following either. So, for example, on the Running Channel website, there is a marathon plan
that you can download for completely free.
And other platforms like Training Peaks, for example, lets you browse loads of different plans and different coaches that can help
you with your goals. Variety is really key when it comes to marathon training.
It's not just about the long runs, although they are super important. You need to mix it up with easy
runs, tempo runs, hill workouts, interval sessions, you name it.
And then if you've got it on your wrist, then you don't have to worry about thinking about remembering all of
the different paces or the lengths of intervals, for example.
So one of the sessions that I did when I was training for Berlin Marathon was a 2k warm up and then five lots of three to 1
minute intervals. Then there was a 62nd recovery in between those
intervals, with three minutes recovery in between sets.
So really hard to remember when you're out there, which effort you're on or how many intervals you've already done.
So by programming it into your watch, it takes all of the pain of remembering all of that away from you. And all you've got to do is just get on and run.
So you've got your plan, you know what sessions you're doing. So now it's time to look at training as a
whole so that you get the most out of it. You keep enjoying what you're doing and also
avoid overtraining and injuries because let's face it, no one wants to go through that.
In the Garmin connect app is Garmin coach. Now, that's got training plans that are
free for 5k, 10k and half marathon. Most watches that have got an
optical heart rate sensor will be able to give you heart rate data directly from your wrist.
Now, this is key to being able to fine tune your training, especially when it comes to running your easy days.
So with the volume of training that you're probably doing
for marathon training, you are going to have to keep those easy days nice and easy.
So by keeping an eye on your heart rate data, you're able to make sure
that you are running at the right intensity on those easy days and leave pushing harder for your harder workouts.
Now, getting heart rate data and your head around it can be a little bit complicated, especially if, like me,
you're not very good at maths. It took me a while to sort it out.
So we've got a whole video on how to set your heart rate zones on the running channel.
So if you need more info on that, be sure to check out the video.
So the useful thing about your heart rate zones is that you're able to see how much of your training you spent anaerobically and aerobically.
And you're going to need to have a mix of both of these in order to get the maximum impact
out of your training. So you can see how much time you spend in each of those zones.
And you can also look at the balance over a week or a month. So we asked the running channel
viewers what the most important feature on a watch was and you told us that it's measuring
your pace and your distance. So the fundamental basics of a running watch.
So a tip for this when you're marathon training is to set up autolap on your watch so it will
record every kilometer or mile, depending on which one you work in.
And then you can take a look at the data once you've finished your run, because you'll have each of those
individual auto laps saved. That's really useful as well if you're
perhaps doing a progressive long run or you're trying to get a specific
pace out of your run so you can take a look at the data after.
Now, just remember, if you're doing an interval session and those intervals aren't a kilometer or a
mile, then you won't want to have autolab onto this.
Now you can enable it and disable it. But rather than having to remember to do that, you can set up
specific profiles for different types of run so that you can just flick between
those and it's much easier.
So when you're setting up your data screens on your watch, another good tip, we think, is to display your lap pace rather than your live pace.
And the reason for this is that lap pace tends to fluctuate less than your live pace,
which means that you get a really good idea of the pace that you're going to complete that lap in. Now, distance is super simple when it comes to recording it
on your watch because you're just seeing how far you go. But the tip for this one is to keep an
eye on the distance that you are doing over a week, because you don't want to jump up too quickly.
You need to build gradually, otherwise you run the risk of overtraining and injuries.
And the basic rule of thumb for this one is to increase no more than 10% each week.
Another stat that you might want to take a look at to try and improve your training is cadence. Now, essentially, cadence is the number of steps that you take per minute, and that,
combined with your stride length, determines how fast you can run.
Now, your watch can do the measuring for you on this, and we've got a video all about what cadence is, how you can improve it on the running channel.
So for more details, check that out. Small changes to your cadence can ultimately make you more efficient, so take a look at your numbers.
Knowing when to train is just as important as the training itself. So if you're wearing your watch every single day, it's likely you'll be
tracking your heart rate, data stress, more advanced things like heart rate variability.
And these can all combine to tell you how ready you are to train or how well recovered you are.
So take a look at something like your waking heart rate, for example. If it's a bit higher than normal,
it could be an early indicator that maybe you're coming down with something or you're
not quite fully recovered from some harder training sessions. Knowledge is power.
So use this information to determine whether you're going to be ready
to do a harder session, like intervals that day. Or maybe you need to swap it out for an easy run or take a rest day.
If you're enjoying this video, make sure you like and subscribe. And while you're there, drop a comment
in the box to let us know your favourite feature on a smartwatch.
Sleep tracking is a tool that is often overlooked when it comes to marathon training. I mean, let's face it,
looking at sleep data is not as exciting or as sexy as looking at how fast or
far you've been running. But actually, it is just as important.
Sleep is the single most important thing when it comes to marathon training because trust me, you're going to be
tired if you don't get enough sleep. You run the risk of poor training sessions, maybe illness, injury, or even burnout.
It's a lot to ask of your body to do marathon training, especially if you've got a full time job and family and other
things in your life to take care of. So wear your watch at nighttime when you're asleep
to track that all important sleep data. Keep an eye on how much you're getting and most importantly, the quality of that sleep.
Cross training is a really great way to supplement your running, so you might do things like cycling or swimming, anything
that's lower impact to top up your aerobic fitness and also give you a little bit more
variety than the monotony of just running or yoga and strength
workouts so they can improve your flexibility and also help with conditioning and your overall running economy.
Your watch can track all of these activities and should be able to take them all into account when calculating things like your overall volume and intensity for the week.
If you're stuck for inspiration, then your watch can probably take you step
by step through exercises or different workouts, so you don't even have to do any of the planning or thinking yourself.
Does your watch have any added features like music or navigation?
If it does, then you can really use these to help with your training.
Pop a motivational playlist on, because scientifically it has been proven that the right
music can help you run faster and make it feel like less effort.
Or alternatively, you could pop a podcast on so it really makes it feel like you're making the most out of your long runs.
You can find new routes using other runners data and try them out to keep things interesting on longer runs.
Do you have any other tech that syncs with your watch? So we're thinking things like
smart insoles foot pods or a dynamics pods such as clips on your waistband.
These can give you loads of extra data about how you're moving.
So things like left right balance, ground contact time,
or how much vertical oscillation you have. Now, those things might sound a little bit overwhelming,
but Andy and Manni actually went head to head in a 10k race and then used those advanced running metrics to talk about how their form
changed as they got tired and how that can relate to potential injuries.
So take a look at that if you're intrigued. So we've been using Garmin watches to show the sorts of
things that we've been talking about as we've gone along. But there are a couple of Garmin specific
features that I've been using that I think you ought to know about too.
Now, the first one is Pace Pro. Now, this is something that I used to get my marathon PB at Amsterdam Marathon and absolutely swear by for my races.
So what you do is you can find the route that you're running of your race with a GPX file and set it up to take into account the reallife hills.
Or you can set it up for a specific distance. If you don't have the actual
route, you can put in your goal time and then adjust it to whether you want to run the
hills easy or if you want to run a positive or a negative split.
Then tells you what pace you should be running for each of those splits in miles or
kilometers. Now, when you're racing, it tells you how far ahead or behind of your goal
you are. So you don't have to do the math yourself, which I found an absolute game changer and
I hope you do too. Another one is called stamina. So this is aimed at telling you as you
run how much you've got left in the tank.
So a bit like a petrol gauge for runners, it can show you how long the watch thinks that you've got left to run
in time or distance based on your current pace and effort level.
This is aimed at making sure that you don't go out too fast too soon, which
is particularly important on race day, but also make sure that you push yourself hard enough.
So we've talked a lot about using your watch for marathon training, but the most important part of marathon training is race
day, of course. So take advantage of all of the things that you've learnt in training.
You'll have practiced what race pace feels like. So use the technology on your
wrist to be able to stick to that and definitely don't get caught up in those early miles.
Stick to your own plan. Set up your watch so that you've only got the data available to look at that you want and are used to having get rid of anything else.
You don't need those other distractions.
Keep it simple. You are the one that's put the hard work in and rely on that hard work
and use your watch as a gauge to get you to that finish line. Hopefully there's something in amongst
all of that that will help you when it comes to hitting your race day goal.
Are there any features that have piqued your interest that you maybe want to try out?
Or perhaps there's something that you absolutely swear by when it comes to training?
Let us know in the comments and I'll see you soon on the running channel.