If you want to run a sub 4 hour marathon, there are a few things you need to know in advance. Your training block should be at least 10 to 12 weeks long, even better if you can do a 16 weeks training block. You should be able to run 10k between 50 and 52 minutes and a half marathon between 1.50 and 1.55. If you are capable of that you are on a good way to run a sub 4 hour marathon.
Nutrition
Another important part in marathon running just under the 4 hour mark plays nutrition. We humans can store carbohydrates that will get us roughly to the 90 minute mark. In order to get to almost 240 minutes, we need additional carbs, that will get us to the finish line. Mostly, there are two options: sports drinks and gels. Gels are probably the easier option and a few of them should do the trick. One each 30-60 minutes.
On most marathon courses there are drink stations every 5k, so when planning your race nutrition strategy to run a sub 4 hour marathon you should consider this fact and practice it during your training runs, especially your longer runs.
The gels with some water from the drink stations should get you safely to the finish line. But don’t use gels the first time on race day. So many things can go wrong. Practice your race day nutrition on your long run days and use the same products on race day.
Before the race
Don’t skip warmup. It might be challenging to run before the actual race. But still. Your muscles should be warmed up and ready to go, when the gun goes off. Therefore you should do a nice easy 10 minute jog, followed by some dynamic exercises and a few strides, just slightly faster than goal race pace. In a perfect world you would finish with the warmup 10 to 15 minutes before the start but we all know that that’s not always possible.
The warmup can be quite challenging on big city marathons. But somehow there is always room to do at least some jogging and some dynamic exercises. In many cases we need to be in the start area quite some time before the actual start. It’s not perfect but even in such cases it’s better to do a slow jog and then find some space in the start area to do the exercises just before the gun goes off.
I know you heard this a million times: don’t start too fast. 42 kilometers is a long way and even if you start 10-15 seconds per kilometer slower than goal race pace it will be better than starting just 5 seconds per kilometer too fast. After the 5 kilometer mark gradually increase the pace to your goal race pace. Don’t be tempted to pick up the pace, even if you feel strong and the pace you are running at feels easy.
During the race
The trick is to get to the 30k mark as fresh as possible. This is the point when you reached the half way mark when it comes to effort. If you ran to plan and took your gels or sports drinks as in your training runs you should be ok. The last 12k of any marathon is the part where it get’s though. Not just for us recreational runners, even the best in the world suffer in the later stages.
This is the part, where you need to overcome all fears and doubts that may come to your mind. Your muscles will be hurting at some point and it will feel hard but we trained for it. Be prepared for such moments. A thing that can help is to split up the race into smaller parts. Concentrate in the next kilometer. Run one kilometer at the time and don’t think about the total distance you still have to cover.
If your friends or family members are there to cheer for you, make sure they are somewhere between kilometer 32 and 37. Knowing this, seeing them and hearing them cheer for you can give you just the mental boost you need to make it to the finish line and achieve your goal.
Sub 4 hour marathon advice
You probably wonder, how the training should look like. Most training plans have 4 days of training each week and 3 rest days. Just click on the link to get your training plan. It’s free and it works.
Many of us have different commitments so feel free to adjust the training plan according to your personal life schedule, just make sure to take rest days after each workout and your weekly longrun.
The training plan incudes intervals, that are faster than race pace. Tempo runs slightly faster or just around race pace, easy runs and longruns. And even some longrun workouts, where you will get the feeling for the race itself and the way you will feel in the later stages of the marathon.
A great way to break the 4 hour marathon barrier is also to ask a fellow runner, who is faster and is experienced, to pace you through the race. That way you will not be tempted to start too fast, you will have someone who will look after the pace, tell you when to drink and take gels. Even mental support if it get’s though during the race.
I hope this tips will help you to run a sub 4 hour marathon.
If you need a training plan tailor made to your personal needs and life schedule, feel free to reach out. The easiest way is to contact me over the contact form.
