On 12th April 2015 I took part in Brighton Marathon, my first ever marathon event. In this series of four posts I will be talking about my marathon build-up, training, performance and what I learnt along the way.
In the previous post I looked at how I followed my training plan and managed my nutrition during the training period.
In this third post I'm going to cover my race preparation and race day strategy.
Race Preparation
After booking in to Brighton Marathon I'd also entered both Bath and Reading half marathons as race preparation events. Bath was six weeks before Brighton and Reading just three. The aim was to run Bath as a flat out effort to assess progress and then run Reading as marathon paced training run.
Bath Half
My plan going in to Bath Half was to aim to run in the 4:05/km to 4:10/km pace range (6:35 to 6:40 per mile) and then, if feeling strong, pick up the pace towards the end of the race. The day dawned pleasant but with a fairly strong breeze that would present itself as a headwind for a significant part of the course.
Even with the wind, I had a cracking run at Bath and reduced my PB from 1:30:01 down to 1:26:09. I also managed to run each of the last 5 kilometres at sub-4:00/km pace and still felt that I had a bit left in the tank as well. This gave me a lot of confidence that my training plan was going well. I was really glad I made the effort to include this additional race into my calendar.
Reading Half
My great result at Bath left me with a small dilemma for Reading. I'd always planned to run this race as a marathon pace training effort, but I still felt I could run a faster half marathon, especially if the conditions were more favourable.
I weighed up the options as decided that as I was feeling strong and healthy I would therefore race Reading rather than treat it as a training run. My reasoning being that another really strong half marathon would give me a greater confidence boost than just completing another training run.
My feeling was correct and I was able to maintain an average 3:58/km (6:24/mile) pace for an improved PB of 1:24:33. This was the exact confidence boost that I has hoped for. The only downside was that a second full effort half marathon in just three weeks made for a slower recovery. But, with the taper for Brighton started and a sports massage in the middle of the taper I was able to get the legs back in good shape in plenty of time.
I'd strongly recommend that if you are approaching a marathon you include a couple of races in the couple of months before. Having more race experience and a way to measure the result of your training makes planning for the marathon a much easier task. If you can also hit a PB in a shorted event along the way then you are setting yourself up with a great mindset going into the big day.
Race Strategy
I'd been thinking long and hard about race strategy for months, but this became a major consideration in the three weeks leading up to the race.
Pacing
When I signed up for Brighton, my target time was 3:10:00. This seemed appropriate given my then half marathon PB of 1:30:01 and my goal of a good-for-age entry to London in 2016 (which requires a sub-3:15 marathon for the 41-50 age group). My initial race plan was therefore to target a steady pace of 4:24/km (7:05/mile) which would result in a time of 3:07:00 - giving some buffer time for a slow start, congestion on the course, slowing at drink stations and similar.
However, my great results at Bath and Reading half marathons got me really starting to question whether my target time and strategy were aggressive enough, especially given how well my training had gone. A half marathon time of 1:24:33 put me tantalisingly close to being able to break the magic three hour marathon mark. My feeling was that it would be really great to hit this milestone in my debut marathon, but at the same time I didn't want to risk going too hard, detonating and missing my good-for-age target time.
After much deliberation I decided on a strategy that would give me an opportunity to target a sub-three hour time if things were going well but that wouldn't take too much out of me early in the race, saving energy for if things got tough. The final strategy that I went into the race with was:
- Start to 14km (9 miles): 4:20/km (7:00/mile)
- 14km to 28km (miles 9 to 18): 4:15/km (6:50/mile)
- 28km to end (18 miles+): If feeling strong then 4:10/km (6:40/mile) otherwise remain at 4:15/km
If all went well then this would average out at around 4:15/km, which would be pretty much spot on the 3 hour mark. I was also quietly confident of being able to maintain the slower 4:15/km pace for the final third of the race if things weren't working out. As it turns out, I wasn't able to fully follow this plan, but that's a subject for the final post in this series.
Nutrition
Given my fairly low carb, high fat and protein paleo diet, I opted to avoid the typical massive carb fest in the few days before the race. Instead I just ate my normal diet but substituted porridge into my breakfast and rice into my evening meals. I was pretty confident with my body's ability to efficiently burn fuel based on the vast number of mostly fasted miles I'd put in over the months of training.
Race day breakfast was my usual large bowl of porridge with a 33Shake All In One Shake mixed in. I usually eat this three hours before the start of the race.
About an hour before the race I then have a couple of low fat and fibre ginger cookies that I make following a recipe on Runners World. I find these nicely settle my tummy without causing any digestion problems during the race.
In-race nutrition was to be provided by four 33Shake Chia Gels, which I would consume at kilometres 8, 16, 24 and 32 (miles 5, 10, 15 and 20). I've been training with these natural energy gels for months and have found them very digestable with a good slow release of energy, rather than the massive sugar hit and crash that you get with normal energy gels.
Hydration
My pre-race hydration plan is to drink plenty of water with breakfast. This ensures good starting hydration levels for the day but gives you an opportunity to flush everything through before lining up to race. Definitely don't want to be starting out with a partly-full bladder and needing to take a pee stop mid-race. I then sip some water on the start line just as a final top up before the off. I didn't see any reason to change this strategy that has always worked for me in the past.
For this year, Brighton Marathon opted to use paper cups, instead of the more common pouches or bottles, for both water and gatorade. Their stated reasons for this choice being that it's more environmentally friendly and also that it allows them to have drink stations every mile throughout the race.
My plan was to consume only water, as I haven't ever used any energy drinks and don't really see the need to do so. With drink stations every mile, I intended to take on water every other mile and therefore have the option for additional water if needed in the intermediate period.
I didn't bother practising with cups as I've used them in previous (10k) races with no trouble. I also didn't even consider the prospect of having additional fluid handed to me along the course. As we will see in the final part of this series, these omissions may have been a less than ideal strategy.
Ready to Race
With a successful preparation and a clear race strategy it was time to get down to the running. My performance in the race and what I learnt as a result will be the subject of the final post in this series.
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