Preventing fatigue at mile 20 of a marathon.
|Greg McMillian, a USATF-certified coach (His new book, YOU (Only Faster), is available on his website: www.mcmillanrunning.com) recently wrote an article in running times discussing how to fatigue proof your legs at the end of a marathon.
Excerpt from Running Times article
FATIGUE-PROOF LEGS
All marathoners know when they have power in their legs over the course of a long run or long race–and when they don’t. When leg fatigue does occur, it’s frustrating because your breathing is fine, your mind wants to push, but your legs simply won’t respond, or they cramp. Here are a few strategies to build fatigue-proof legs:
Higher Mileage Helps
If you can increase your mileage by 10 to 20 miles per week and stay healthy, your legs will be more resistant to fatigue in your next marathon.
Do Long, Long Runs
The length of a long, long run depends on the athlete. Faster runners (sub-3:00 marathoners) find that a 3- to 3.5-hour long run accomplishes the goal because this is well beyond the time they will take to finish the race. Many of us 3:00 to 4:30 marathoners find that simply running for the duration of our marathon goal time is sufficient. Because the recovery time is so great, I’m not a fan of superlong runs for slower runners, but they still must get in 3–4.5 hours to address leg fatigue.
Run Hills
Plan more of your runs over hilly courses and do hill workouts. This was the old-school method of strengthening the legs, and it still works. It’s also good to do some downhill training to condition the quads.
I really agree with what Greg has to say here especially from a physiologic standpoint. As a physician and surgeon with a background in athletic training, I understand how the body adapts to stress. Running 18 miles in preparation for a 26.2 mile event is not sufficiently preparing the body. I’m not saying you can’t run a marathon with one or several long runs of 18 miles ( I have done it) but the body needs more then this. Consider that you will be running almost 1 hour longer then your long run on marathon day. 1 hour! There is no logic from a physiologic standpoint to preparing for any athletic endeavor by not preparing for 25% of your race. 5k athletes run anywhere from 60-100 miles or more a week for an event that lasts for them 15 minutes. Now, I have read Hanson’s book on marathon training and it recommends not doing more then 16 to 18 miles in preparation. I just can’t agree with this. They make the standpoint to run no more then 25% -30% of your weekly mileage on a single long run. I agree on one hand, but I think you still need the physiologic adaptation from the long slow run. To make the argument more valid, I would say it would be the most beneficial and safest to reach 75-80 miles a week or more so that you long run is closer to 20 miles. The Hanson’s advanced marathon training program has the runner only peaking at 16 miles. That means you will have to go 10.2 miles farther the. What your body is physiologically adapted to and then attempt to race it! Not logical. This only leads me to believe that they are basing their recommendation on runners who are genetically gifted to run this distance.
Our bodies adapt to the stresses that are placed upon it through gradual adaptation. It’s pretty logical to say that if you want to improve your marathon time, them more miles both weekly and on long runs will increase he body’s endurance.
I doubt that I am “genetically gifted” to run a marathon distance. Despite this, I’ve run my last two marathons after not having any long runs over 16 miles. Before the last one, my longest run during a couple of months of training was 15 miles. I did this once, and had one 13 miler as well. Most of my runs were in the 9-10 mile range, and my training was somewhat erratic. When I did run, I focused on making sure my posture and form were good, so that I was not stressing my body unnecessarily. I figured if I was efficient, I would be able to make it 26.2 miles on race day with adrenaline, Gu packets, water as needed from aid stations, and a couple of S caps. I did both of my last 2 marathons in under 4 hours, the most recent in 3:37. I would have preferred having had some runs 20 miles or longer in training, but it’s obviously quite possible for a mediocre runner to do a marathon without any.
Bob,
Thanks for the comment! There are obviously many variables that can play a role in running any event. One thing that I would point out is you said a majority of your runs were 9-10 miles. Most “mediocre” programs do not have the runner at that distance. So you did add miles to your routine. More miles definitely helps wether its one run or runs combined. What was your weekly mileage? I would also point out that if you did pick up your long run you may run an even faster marathon!!
Keep the dialogue! This is how we all learn!
Most of my weeks were around 42 miles. I did have one 70 mile week. I’m sure you’re right that I would have been faster with some 20 mile runs, but I was lucky most weeks just to get the 42 miles total. I was still pretty happy with my last race. I think that keeping my overall fitness level up for several months helped me do pretty well without any long runs.