Tips for before, during and after running a marathon

I had the weirdest dream last night that I was running the Mont Saint Michel marathon and in my dream, when I got to mile 20 I for some reason stopped went into a house and cooked some mushrooms, then got in a car which drove me to the finish line. I had been close to finishing the marathon in 4 hours and when I’d got to the finish line in this car, I thought what the hell did I do that for, why did I stop to cook food? Food which I’m not certain I even ate in this dream?

When I woke to my alarm, the dream was that bit of extra motivation I needed to get out of bed and go for a run.

While stopping at mile 20 of a marathon and getting in a car to complete the rest of the race is definitely not something I’d advise, here are some tricks I’ve picked from previous marathons over the years.

Before:

• Drink plenty of water the day before so your pee looks almost clear
• Lay all of your clothes, gels, shoes out the night before, think about what you’ll wear after the marathon – a hoody is always good to have so you don’t get a chill post run
• Treat the marathon as one of your training runs, do the exact same thing, now is not the time to try out a new gel you’ve read about online
• Go to the toilet plenty of times before you leave the house on race day and go once again just before you leave – ideally try and go for a number 2 to avoid having to desperately queue for a portaloo near the start line
• The day of the marathon I drink until my pee goes clear again then stop drinking about an hour before the race…but as I said before just do what you’ve done in your training runs
• Think of three targets for the marathon, one which is definitely achievable (e.g. finishing), one that you should be able to achieve (perhaps a PB) and finally one you’d be ecstatic with (sub 4 hours)

During:

• Don’t get carried away with the crowd at the start of the race and set off too fast, there will be plenty of time to pass slow runners over the next 26 miles
• When you get to mile 13 don’t think of that as half way, even though it is, to me mentally half way is when you get to mile 16 so try and push to 16
• They say the real race starts at mile 20 which I think is true, when you get to that point just try to move as quickly as you can
• If you’re running with headphones be sure to listen out to the crowd cheering you on, it will give you a mental boost when you need it the most
• Another trick I read is to dedicate each individual mile to a person and think about how you’re running that particular mile for that person to tick the miles off the list
• Enjoy the marathon – it will be over before you know it and all those hours of training will soon feel like a distant memory

After:

• I sometimes wore Ugg boots afterward as my feet were always quite sore, I’ve also seen quite people wearing flip flops
• Keep water in the car for post race, you will be seriously dehydrated
• Keep moving – if you stop moving straight after your run you will seize up the next day, try to keep your legs moving even though you will be exhausted

These are the pieces of advice I will be listening before the 26th May, less than two weeks away, when I will be setting myself up for the Mont Saint Michel Marathon. Good luck to anyone else taking on a marathon challenge over the next couple of weeks! And watch this space for a blog post for life after a marathon.

Thoughts from this week:

• I am playing on the pitch at Old Trafford on Friday in the annual Manchester United staff match, praying that I don’t get injured
• Game of Thrones at the moment is just unreal
• I’m excited to travel to France for the marathon as well as enjoying the wine, cheese and bread which will be consumed
• Had the joy of watching Manchester United Women lift the Championship trophy on Saturday, shame it wasn’t a joy at all to watch the Men’s team lose to Cardiff City on Sunday
• Finally understanding people’s obsession with halloumi, it is yummy