Race Planning

Endurance races are never about running flat out from the gun. Our metabolism is such that as our heart rate gets higher lactic acid production becomes greater.

There comes a point where the rate of lactate production exceeds the body’s ability to remove it. When this occurs, our aerobic system is inhibited and we rapidly fatigue with performance dropping off.

For this reason we need to keep our effort levels below this point until the fatigue is no longer an issue. For the average social runner, this would usually be until the point where there are only 20-30 minutes remaining.

Working out this point is based upon a lot of variables. Aerobic capacity, frequency of training, number of years of consistent training and diet all have an influence.

However, to get an approximate idea of where this point will occur, minus your age from 190. This is a rough guide as to where your heart rate should be for at least the first half of the race.

Going that little bit slower at the start will often mean a whole lot quicker at the end.

Finally, know your course. Plan it out. What time do you expect to cross hydration stations? At which stations will you drink what? Where are the hills? Do you push hard up them knowing you may lactate or hold back and save it until later?

Race Nutrition

One of the most asked questions from all athletes is what do I eat leading up to my event? Truth be told, there is not a lot that you can do that will drastically improve performance over a 90+min event, there is however plenty you can do that will destroy it.

For many years there has been a notion that carbohydrate loading is important. There are significant risks with doing this in endurance events.

Firstly, carbohydrate loading can lead to digestive upsets, such as bloating, making exercise uncomfortable and fluid consumption hard. Secondly, an increase in carbohydrate intake results in an increase in insulin often decreasing endurance.

The best bet is to stick to your normal diet. There should be no need to eat during a half or full marathon. Hydration can become important, however, gels should be avoided due to the potential digestive issues and insulin spikes.

As discussed previously, if we expect weather conditions to be in the high 20’s during the event with humidity of 70%, we would expect someone to lose approximately 600-800ml/hr.

This should be the goal for consumption, no more. From this, sugary based drinks should only be consumed after 45 minutes, no earlier.

Here's your program for Week 23.