Guess what, if you are running the TCS London Marathon you can officially say that you are running a marathon next month. I am sure I am not alone in feeling like the weeks are now flying by and before we know it, we will be carb loading (the best part of running a marathon in my opinion), drinking water like a camel to stay hydrated and making those final preparations for event day.

Hopefully by this stage you have found your groove with your training, so with that in mind for today's blog, and those going forward, I am going to be sharing more specific race day advice along with some tips and tricks that you can incorporate into your training to help make your marathon a success.

And today, we are going to be talking about something a lot of marathon runners dread… hitting the wall, but more importantly, how to avoid it.

THE SCIENCEY BIT

STICK TO THE PLAN

Another mistake that runners make on race day is to suddenly switch up their goal and set off at a pace that is a lot quicker than they have been doing in training. It can be really easy to get carried away; race day adrenaline, other runners, thousands of people cheering you on making you feel invincible, but whilst the faster pace might feel okay for the first part of the race, if you head out a pace that is not sustainable for you, chances are you will pay for it later on.

So as hard as it may be, stick to your goal, stick to the pace you have trained at and try to block everything else out. And just remember, during a marathon the first half of the race should feel pretty comfortable. 26.2 miles is a long old way so if you’re struggling to maintain a pace early on in the race, it will feel a whole lot harder once you have been running for 20 miles.

Always remember that if you head out at a pace that is comfortable, it may mean that when you do get to the last few miles you can pick up your speed and run faster - which trust me - is a much better feeling and experience then feeling like you are clinging on for dear life at the end.

BREAK IT DOWN

But it’s important to find what works for you - mileage milestones may not work but instead you could try;

• Time - break the race down into 30 minute chunks.

• Landmarks - whether it’s an iconic landmark en route, or even the next water station use this to countdown to your next milestone.

• Support - if you have family or friends watching, make a plan so you know where they will be and use that so you know its only X miles until you see them again.