Written by Tore Amundøy, Head of Education at Friskis & Svettis

If you have decided to take part in a marathon, you clink with a distance of 42,195 meters. Then you have accepted a physical challenge that will require some preparation. Well, you MUST do nothing, but you world so much difference it can make if you are prepared for the task in relation to the alternative; quiet with totally unused running equipment on the starting line in the full sense of the term.

Whether you are a debutant in the distance or have to run for a new personal record, it will require some physical measures to make the actual implementation as comfortable and smooth as possible.

Objective
This is also something that applies to the very best runners. Few people will perform their best by starting on impulse, even if the training basis is good. A marathon requires preparation, also for those who train running daily and chase to get a top position. An experienced runner who is going to make his marathon debut has an advantage, it is not to be underestimated, but often the level of ambition is different from that of someone who is going to go from zero to hero in a marathon context. If you are not used to training running and are going to complete a marathon, perhaps the goal is to finish with a good feeling, and that the finish time is of secondary importance. You may want to have an idea of how many hours it will take, because it can help you both in terms of consuming energy along the way, but also in terms of how to be mentally prepared. Of course, it would have been nice to have a Norwegian record, but the probability that a debutant, who does not have a running background will make it, is so vanishingly small that we can put that scenario aside. If, on the other hand, you have a Norwegian record or top position in sight, then you definitely have a training program with detailed information about which training is to be carried out and at what pace, so that you do not have to read about it online.

How fast are you going to run?
There are few facts and research to be found in the area, but a few years ago a survey was conducted in the USA on what the average time is at the marathon distance for almost 400,000 runners. These were races in the USA, and they came to the conclusion that 5 hours and 10 minutes for women versus 4 hours and 31 minutes for men is the average time. This is not the debut time, but included both winners and system in goal. Without any evidence from the research, it is assumed that the average in Norway is a little faster, as we Norwegians invoke a more active lifestyle than Americans. Despite the fact that there are large numbers of non-Americans competing in the big races in New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles, most Americans are laying the foundation for these times.

Long trips
If we then agree that this will be a run that lasts a few hours, then the following facts are worth taking with you: It is not the speed that will determine whether you as a beginner are left with good experiences, in addition to tired legs after running, but the ability to keep going (not to say running) without going on a real bang. Completing in a time from 4-6 hours has no limit in the lack of pace training.

If you are a beginner in a running context, it is a good idea to get your body used to being outside for a long time - and moving (read: jogging / running) because this is a big part of the challenge. The body must practice using the energy we have stored in - and on the body as an energy source during the race. And you can gradually get your body used to this by putting in workouts that last for 90 minutes and longer. Not from the first training week, but by a gradual increase.

Therefore, based on where you are in the preparations and in physical shape today, and then you use one of your workouts every week to build a long trip. If you run an hour already, you can add 5-10 minutes every week. Keep the intensity so low that you do not get stiff in the muscles but feel that you have control over breathing and heart rate, and if that means you have to walk on the slopes, then of course you do. You should not run so fast that you are halfway considering taking a taxi home. You get tired at the end, but it's part of the marathon workout. After a couple of months, you may be up for just over two and a half hours.

If you are already on long training trips, it is of course wise to continue with it, but as they get longer. 2-3 hours, so you can go from doing them once a week to completing them every 10 days, for example. Long walks of two to three hours are a strain on the body and you need a few days to recover, even if you are fit

Is the goal to run at a pace of approx. 10 kilometers per hour in the marathon, then you will spend just over 4. 20 on the distance, and then it is not stupid to have been out on a couple of trips of around 3 hours in advance. It sounds far, but you should not run faster here than what you intend to do in the marathon itself - rather the opposite, so you should do this if you think you should keep the same speed for another hour. Experienced runners say that it is after 30 kilometers that the marathon itself starts. Keep that in mind when you are on the starting line, even if you are going to enjoy the first few miles as well.

Carbohydrates
So the long trips: Here you should not only get your body used to fat burning and the muscles to keep going for hours, you should also practice consuming nutrients and replenishing carbohydrates to delay the emptying of the stores in the body as long as possible.

The bang that is often mentioned in marathon contexts, to meet the wall, is when the body has used up the stock we have of carbohydrates that are available. This is enough to do continuous physical activity for about 1-2 hours depending on the intensity. For most people, this means that they have not come halfway yet.

If you keep a lower intensity, you will not experience meeting the wall in the same way, because you then give the body the opportunity to use a percentage more fat as an energy source. This type of training can almost be compared to being out on a long and good ski trip at Easter, where you walk across the plateau, without feeling that you are pushing to keep up the pace. Then you may be out for 3-4 consecutive hours, interrupted by a few short drinking breaks and a quick lunch. Then you come home with a good tiredness in the body, but not the feeling that you just have to stop completely. The body gets its energy from both fat and carbohydrates (glycogen) and the percentage distribution is more fat, the lower the intensity. Here we must not mix the percentage of fat with total fat burning, as intensive training has a greater consumption in total. Fat burning requires a lot of oxygen, and if you think about how out of breath you are after hard interval training or when you have run up a long hill, it feels like there is a little less oxygen available than what the body really wants.

When exercising with high intensity, carbohydrates will be the energy source that is most easily available to the muscles, and with even higher intensity, that which is training above the anaerobic threshold (without access to sufficient oxygen) then an acidic environment occurs in the muscles and you experience that you becomes stiff in the muscles. You must either stop or radically reduce the intensity. Read about carbohydrate intake here.

Regards Tore Amundøy, Head of Education at Friskis & Svettis