athletes of any sport have bad years
that they want to break or times they
want to be in running a common one is
getting that sub for our marathon
running a marathon is a challenge enough
but having a target time is a great way
to stay focused and keep you motivated
through the hours of training because
trust me there are a lot of miles you've
got to run beforehand
well in this video we're going to be
guiding you through how to plan and
prepare to be able to run forty two
point two kilometers or 26.2 miles in
less than four hours let's start by
looking at pacing in order to run a four
hour math and you would have to hold a
consistent base of nine minutes nine
seconds per mile or five minutes 41
seconds per kilometre but obviously we
want to go under four hours and let's be
realistic you're probably not gonna be
able to run every single step of the way
and you also need to consider the fact
that the second half it's probably going
to be slower than the first now
apparently an average runners who do for
our mouth and actually complete the
first half in around 1 hour 52 and then
a second half around 2 hours and 8
minutes on top of this there's other
things to consider such as the aid
stations and convenient breaks but we're
going to talk more on that in a moment
so I want you to actually target trying
to run a 3 hour 55 marathon as it gives
you a little bit of leeway and it'll
hopefully stop that frustration of
coming in just under 4 hours so in order
to run that time or that target pace
you'd need to be hitting 8 minutes 58
seconds per mile or 5 minutes 34 seconds
per kilometer before you get too excited
just because you can run a 9-minute mile
doesn't mean you're ready to do a sub 4
hour marathon because obviously you've
got another 25 miles which you'd have to
hold that pace however if you do want a
bit of a guide to see if you're on the
right track you can run a 10k and if
you're coming in under 52 minutes as
long as you're doing the long runs as
well that's a good guide to show that
you're heading in the right direction in
the actual race it's okay to walk small
segments and with the correct pacing you
can factor this in and plan I actually
use was to walk in every aid station so
then you're making sure you're getting
in enough hydration and fueling but it
also acts as a mental break you can
get running to the next one and also
don't panic if you need the loo four
hours is a long time but if you've
targeted a three-hour fifty-five
marathon pace you'll have a few minutes
spare to play with being ready to run a
marathon takes a structured training
plan of at least 12 weeks
ideally 16 to 20 weeks and that is only
if you're already running regularly
obviously it does very much depend on
what running base your coming from as to
how long you're going to need
consistency is key when training for
this distance and having a plan and
sticking to it is essential the longer
you have in which to build up your
training the less likely you are to get
injured so it just allows you plenty of
time to start increasing the miles and
allowing your body to adapt and
strengthen well going into the exact
detail of what training you have to do
for this distance is a video for another
day but there are plenty of training
programs that you can find online a
common question is how far your longest
run it should be beforehand if you are
new to math and running the thought of
running 26 miles is pretty daunting and
it can be tempting to try and run as far
almost as far in your training however
it's a good idea not to because the
damage and jarring on your body from
that well actually detriment your
training overall as it takes such a long
time to recover so as long as you're
following a structured training plan
then running 20 to 22 miles should be
sufficient once or maybe twice in your
build up that must admit before my first
math and the longest I ran was 17 miles
and when I got to it in the race I
thought oh my goodness my legs aren't
gonna be able to go any further but I
managed to carry on for another eight
miles without too much of a problem
[Music]
getting the right equipment for training
and racing this distance is vital first
and foremost Footwear you can do for
spending hours in your training shoes so
you want to make sure that they're the
correct ones for your running gait and
also comfortable on your feet if you do
want a bit of advice on this I suggest
going to reputed bull running store and
it's also worth noting how many miles
you run in your shoes because it's
recommended that you change your
training shoes every three to five
hundred miles or 450 to 600 k and once
you've found and make a model of shoe
that you like it's worth considering
buying a couple of pairs wearing one
pair in and then putting them aside for
race day and using the other ones to
train in whatever you do do not buy a
brand new pair of shoes and take them
out the box on race day the same goes
for the rest of your kit within reason
so experiment and find out what's
comfortable for you and do at least a
couple of long runs in it because your
pair of shorts for example might feel
really comfortable for 10k but two hours
in them it can be another matter and you
might have heard of runners chafe well
petroleum jelly can solve most of those
issues but obviously you need to find
out from doing a long runs what areas
are susceptible to rubbing in the first
place on race day you'll like to have a
timing chip that will record your time
and many of the big marathons will have
pacemakers so you've got someone to
actually help keep you on track for that
target time but when it comes to
training it is useful to be able to
record the pace and time that you're
running out now some people purely use a
phone for this but having a basic watch
is helpful and if you can't have
something with GPS it will just make
sticking to that training plan that much
easier you need to address your
nutrition long before race day so work
out what you like the taste of and what
agrees with your stomach and then
practice with it you'll have plenty of
opportunities for this on your long runs
and it's actually worth investing in a
nutrition belt or a small running
backpack to your training run so you can
carry your gels bars or whatever food
you're choosing to use for your training
food and calories are only one half of
the puzzle though hydration is equally
important especially if you're racing or
training somewhere hot so you need to
get used to drinking whilst you're
running and the key is to treat me let
alone often if you don't want to have a
full of liquid sloshing around and on
the other hand you also don't want to
wait until you're thirsty or dehydrated
because then it's too late
[Music]
make sure you have a nutritious meal the
night before so low in fiber high in
carbohydrates and stick to the foods you
know and the same thing goes for
breakfast on race day so you could try
something like porridge with nuts and
honey so you've got both quick and slow
releasing energy just make sure though
you've practices strategy with your long
runs in training and as for anything
when it comes to a race don't try
anything new on race day make sure you
arrive with plenty of time on race
morning you want to include a light
warm-up and remember to pack clothes for
all weather conditions because it's
important that you stay warm before your
race and also factor in the time it'll
take queuing for bag drop for bathrooms
etc and then onto the race itself you're
going to be excited and full of
adrenaline enjoy it but still try and
remember to stick to your plan as much
as you can all that leaves me to say is
good luck with your sub for our mouth
and let me know how it goes you can do
that in the comments section below
hopefully you've enjoyed this hit the
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earlier in the video I talked about
replacing your training shoes after a
certain amount of mileage well if you
want more detail on how to know when you
need to change your trainers there's a
video on that just here and for
something a bit shorter and faster if
you want a guide on how to run a sub
40-minute 10k you can find that just
here