Advice for novice marathon runners

Press, 3 June 1982, Page 22

Advice for novice marathon runners

(By GLENN HASZARD) " By now most of the 1151 entrants in the Nike City of Christchurch Marathon will have completed their training and preparation for the event on Sunday.

Those who have not com--pleted their training will either withdraw before the start or may withdraw during the event. Some may imagine that their training has been insufficient, but may still manage to struggle through to the finish. But aside from these, there will still be dozens, even a hundred of so, who start the race intending to finish but never reach their goal. Why?

There are many reasons why runners withdraw from marathons, and I know several of the reasons from first-hand experience. I have started in more than' 25

marathons and withdrawn from about eight. Last year, I started in the Nike marathon intending to finish, albeit in a slow time because of the lack of training. But I got only as far as 20km and had to withdraw. The reason was that from soon after the start, my calf muscles became very tight. I noticed others in the race having similar trouble.

I think my trouble was that the muscles were stiffened by the cold temperature which can prevail in Christchurch at this time of the year. Next time when I run a marathon in cold temperature, I will rub oil or some liniment on my leg muscles to try to keep them from stiffening.

Competitors in this Sunday’s marathon would be well advised to consider this

factor if the temperature is low. They might also consider wearting a T-shirt under their singlets and perhaps even woollen mittens and hat. These could be discarded at a refreshment station if the temperature gets warmer.

On another occasion, in one of the DB Great Westland marathons, I withdrew at 20km because of a blister on the sole of my foot. I later found that the inner sole of my road shoe was worn extremely thin and was not giving any protection. The lesson there was to ensure before the race that my road shoes were in good condition. It often pays to take a spare pair of shoes with you to the race and when you warm up (not excessively), check your shoes for comfort. If they show any signs

of giving trouble, try the other pair. The correct approach is to have worn your road shoes on a long-distance training run a couple of weeks before the race.

• Another tip is - to ensure just before the race that the laces are not going to break. If they are worn thin, it is best to replace them. Also make sure you double knot them so that they do not unwind during the race, forcing you to stop and do them up. and lose minutes of precious time. A marathon also plays havoc with your muscles and joints with the pounding on the hard road. It is inevitable that you will feel some tightening or stiffness somewhere on your body at some stage of the race. Some athletes have a low tolerance for pain, which may be a good thing. They withdraw at the first pinch of pain. Others reach the pain threshold and continue, sometimes with long-lasting effects.

A good guideline to adopt is to persist if there is just a niggling feeling and it does not get worse. But if it is a sharp pain in the muscle, and it occurs suddenly and severely, it would be very unwise to persist. Most niggling pains, seem to disappear after a few kilometres. If you have done the training, the niggling pains are unlikely to get worse.

Cramp can be a problem, and has forced many a top runner out of a race. It can be'prevented to some extent by the taking of small amounts of trace elements in your drink which you can take before the race and from the refreshment stations. But if you want to have your own drink you have to supply it early on the day and label it. with your race number.

Probably the main reason why many are forced to withdraw from a marathon under normal conditions is that they go too fast at the start. If they do, and their training background is on the

sparse side, they run the risk of "blowing up” half-way through the race. There are no prizes for winning the first skm of a marathon. Serious runners will not admire such runners — only regard them as inexperienced. More of a problem is maintaining the correct pace. For novices especially, this is one of the biggest hurdles to face. Correct pace judgment can only really be attained after training over set distances at the desirable pace and getting thoroughly used to it.

One method I have adopted to help me judge pace in a marathon is to construct a small cardboard chart with distance “splits" along the top and times for the "splits" at various running speeds. If I am aiming to finish in three hours, my chart will contain the “splits” for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 42km for say a 2hr 50min finish time, a 2:55 finish, a 3hr finish, a 3:05 finish and a 3:10 finish.

If I pass the 10km mark and the time is called as 36 minutes, I will realise that I am going too fast, because if I continued at that pace I would finish in about 2:34. So I would drop the pace. My ideal time! for the first 10km would be between 42 and 43 minutes if I were aiming for a three-hour marathon.

A golden rule is to be on the conservative side in pace in the first half of the race. It is much harder to keep going after starting too fast than to build up speed after starting too slow.

It is sometimes hard to allow a training partner of the same ability to get ahead of you at the start but 42km is a long way and you have plenty of time to catch up later in the race.

It gives a runner a psychological boost when he starts to pass tiring runners in the latter stages of a marathon. On the other hand, it can be depressing to slow down in the latter stages and be passed by runners whom you know you are capable of beating.

Finally, some runners are forced to withdraw because their stomachs give them trouble during the race.

Each runner has a unique metabolic and digestive system. He must learn by experience which type of drink he can tolerate while running, and how much he should take at one time.

On a cold day, some runners find that they can complete the marathon without taking in any liquid, providing they top up at the end. But the usual advice is to take a little often.

If the weather is warm, it becomes essential to take liquid frequently or you run the risk of dehydration, which can be serious.

I have heard of runners enjoying steak and eggs on the night before a marathon. They might enjoy it but it won’t do them much good on the morning of the race because undigested meat and egg will be sitting in the stomach, drawing precious blood to the digestive organs at a time when the legs are demanding the energy from the blood.

Far better to have a high carbohydrate meal such as

spaghetti or a potato-type meal. The Long Distance Runners Club has arranged a pasta meal for competitors at the University of Canterbury on Saturday night, after the sports medicine forum. On the morning of the race, it is advisable to rise fairly early from bed and have a light meal at least three hours before the start of the race. Most will have a few slices of toast and a sweet spread with a cup of tea or coffee. There is no need to take more than this. It is not advisable to load up on too much sugar before a race. Nutritionists advise that you eat a more balanced diet, with an emphasis on carbohydrates of the starchy type rather than excessive amounts of sugar, though they say that sucking a sweet or two before a race could be of some help. There will be sponge stations along the route at regular intervals but it is usually not necessary to use them unless you are sweating because of warm temperatures. Do not. sponge yourself towards the end of the race if you are slowing down and the temperature is low, or you could catch a chill.

Good racing and, above all, enjoy your running and share the joy of taking part. If you do not perform up to expectations there is always another chance next year.