When the mileage cranks up, here’s how to keep yourself running strong. – By Annie Rice

For those training for a marathon, now is the time to do all you can to keep the wheels on and yourself healthy and injury-free until the big day. Pounding out the kilometres and ticking off sessions isn’t the only way to do this. Here are some of the key factors to focus on:

Fuel

We know pre and post workout fuel is fairly crucial when it comes to performance but it can be hard to stay on top of it once your mileage creeps up. You’ll need more kilojoules but it’s important to remember that not all kilojoules are created equal. So knowing what to eat and when to eat it comes into action here.

Sleep

Getting quality shut eye has been proven to correlate directly to your running performance – read more on this here. If you’re struggling to achieve the winning eight-hour formula, here are some tips to winding down early and taking yourself to bed.

Stay strong

To prevent any niggles becoming injuries at the crucial stage, it’s important you put a little time into staying strong and mileage-proofing your body. Check out our core work essentials for marathon training here, it’ll only take a few minutes of your day.

Stretch

You’re tired, you’re short on time – we get it. Stretching is more likely to fall from your routine than the runs themselves. If you find it hard to motivate yourself why not try squeezing in a weekly yoga class.

Progress and pacing

If you’re really struggling to stick to your training schedule or not seeing the improvements you’d hoped for, it can be hard to stay motivated. But there may be a reason you’re struggling and there are a few tricks you can employ to work out why your performance might not be at its best so you can tweak accordingly.

This is also a good time to re-evaluate your pacing strategy. Hopefully you’ve got a half marathon or two in the bag to help gauge your race pace and work out a plan for the big day. Practicing your race day pace is really important.

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