Marathon season’s firmly here, baby. Sydney and Berlin went down over the last few weeks, and Chicago and New York are on the horizon, along with some important non-majors: Amsterdam, Lisbon, Philadelphia and the Twin Cities.
This is the point in the training block where you start to taper — “the hay’s in the barn” as my old running coach used to say — and can devote some time to race day concerns. Like figuring out how many gels you’re going to run with, or officially giving the nod to your favorite shorts.
It’s also a good time to think a little bit about pace strategy…without getting too frazzled about the concept. Here’s a useful way of thinking about it, courtesy of Reed Fischer, a runner with Boulder-based collective Tinman Elite.
Hammer the 5Ks
Once you start checking your watch for splits during a marathon, it’s almost impossible to stop. When I ran New York a couple of years back, I have a distinct memory of seeing a sign outside the Barclays Center that offered the time elapsed, alongside an ominous exhortation: “18 miles to go, runners!”
That was more or less when I cracked and began religiously monitoring my left wrist. But there’s a better way. This is Fischer’s simple but powerful marathoning tip:
“One of my biggest tips for the marathon is to make sure you have your watch set up to split every 5K instead of every mile or every kilometer. That means you’re only going to have eight splits over the course of the race, as opposed to 26 or 42. It’s a big mental jump. You’re going to be able to focus on the right effort and the right pace, with some of the volatility of a hillier mile being thrown out.”
Why It Works
Fischer’s hack is meant to ease what he calls the “mental digestion” of a race. Naturally, you’re going to reach hydration stations at the mile markers and feel an urge to check your watch. But if you can resist that urge, and cool it on the split-checking, you’ll have a better chance of settling into the race.
Think of it in terms of a cold plunge. Lasting two minutes in a freezing tub is a lot easier if you remember to breathe. On the contrary, squirming and clock-staring make for a pretty miserable experience.
If you’re a great runner like Fischer, with a specific goal time, you’re on the hunt for flow. You want to trust your instincts and perceived effort level — without sweating the hilly miles, as he alluded to. And if you’re crossing off your first (and potentially only) marathon, you don’t want to forget to have fun. When else in your life will thousands of random strangers cheer you for hours on end? Look around and let it sink in.
For more advice on long-distance running, you can follow Fischer here. You can definitely trust him — the man’s run 26.2 in 2:10:54.
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