5 Micro-Training Tweaks for Your Fastest Marathon Yet

Racing 26.2 miles is no easy feat. The marathon tests the limits of every runner because of its unique demands. It’s long enough to deplete your stored reserves of carbohydrates, but short enough that it can be run at a competitive pace without any walking breaks.

This creates an environment where small training and racing errors can become magnified, reducing the possibility of a successful race. Seemingly small choices—like the pace of the first mile, how well you run the tangents, or even your long run four months ago—can often have an outsized impact on your race result.

For runners with a competitive goal, like a Boston Marathon qualifier or a certain finish time, being strategic about the training process and race strategy is a requirement for success. After coaching marathoners for nearly 13 years, here is my list of commonly forgotten strategies for dramatically increasing the likelihood of your fastest marathon.

1. Run the Tangents

Every certified marathon course in the United States adheres to the USA Track & Field’s course certification program. Every performance that wishes to be ranked on a national list or used as a record must be run on a USATF-certified course.

One stipulation of this course measuring methodology is that the course is defined by the shortest possible route that any runner could potentially take and not be disqualified. That means the course is measured along the tangents around curves (i.e., a straight line through an S-turn or diagonally between corners when crossing a street).

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But many runners don’t run the course this way. They follow the crowd, taking the long way around turns and not running the shortest possible route, leading to a bloated finish time. Running as closely as possible to the imaginary line that follows the shortest possible route will ensure you don’t run longer than needed—and your finish time is as fast as possible.

2. Carb-Load Before the Race

Decades ago, runners were told to deplete their carbohydrate reserves through training and diet. Only then were they ready to restock their reserves and “overcompensate” with carbs.

We’ve since learned that while the depletion phase of this protocol is unnecessary, carb-loading in the two to three days before an endurance race like the marathon is beneficial and will help your overall finish time. And since most people can only carry about 20 miles worth of carbohydrates in their muscles, liver, and bloodstream, we have to cram more carbs into these stores before the race.

Aim for 8 to 10 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of bodyweight in the days leading up to the marathon (this means most of your calories are coming from carbs—even as high as 80 to 90 percent of your total daily calories).

Bread, oatmeal, bagels, pancakes or waffles, and low-fiber fruit are great options to ensure you’re carrying as much fuel as possible on race day. You may also want to supplement with a carb-rich beverage like fruit juice or a sports drink.

3. Fuel During the Marathon

Carb-loading isn’t enough for marathon success since you still won’t have enough to carry you through 26.2 miles.

And you certainly don’t want to be like the runner I once talked to, who told me he was going to race a fast marathon “off adrenaline alone” (adrenaline is a hormone, not a fuel).

Marathoners need to consume carbohydrates during the race, as well. This helps make up for the shortfall in fuel that your body is simply incapable of carrying. It’s like if your car had a small gas tank that couldn’t carry enough fuel for a road trip. You’ll need to add more gasoline to your tank to make up the difference.

During the marathon, aim for 50 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour, ideally spaced about 30 minutes apart. This total works out to be approximately two gels, with most runners needing about 5-9 gels during the race (depending on finish time) to feel as energetic as possible over the final miles.

4. Start Slow to Finish Fast

Marathons can’t be won in the first mile, but they can be lost. A fast pace during the early miles of a marathon spells trouble for two important reasons.

First, running too fast too early puts too much mechanical stress on your body. The faster you run, the more impact forces your muscles and skeletal system must absorb. This can create microtears and small amounts of muscular damage too soon during the race that will only become worse as the miles tick by.

Second, if your early pace is too quick, you’ll burn through more stored glycogen. Not only do we have to save your muscles from excessive damage, but we must ration those precious carbohydrate stores for later in the race.

Aim to run slightly slower than your goal pace for the first two miles of the race, thereby reducing the risk of starting too fast and helping you warm up fully before hitting your goal marathon pace.

5. Prioritize Your Pre-Season Long Run

Often, success in the marathon is built during the pre-season, well before the official marathon training cycle even begins. But how does that work?

Many marathoners spend their season gradually building their long run distance from about 10 miles to 20 miles. This can usually be done safely in a 16-week training cycle.

That’s a fine strategy if your goal is to finish the marathon. At such a distance, completion of 26.2 miles is a worthwhile accomplishment. But if your goal is to run competitively or achieve a certain time standard, more advanced long run progressions are needed. Performance-oriented runners need more frequent long runs in the 18-20 mile range to build the specific fitness required to run well over the marathon distance.

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This concept is well-supported in a recent study showing that longer long runs are associated with faster finish times (with no increased injury risk). If you want to run fast over 26.2 miles, a steady diet of high-quality long runs is a necessity.

Many of these ideas are not often focused on among marathoners, but they matter. For marathoners with goal finish times, attention to detail and a strategic training approach may make all the difference in achieving a highly sought-after goal.