How I Cut 30 Minutes off my Marathon Time
My runDisney (and soon to be Chicago Marathon) pals!
I ran the Walt Disney World Resort Marathon this past Sunday and I had a blast. This was my 2nd marathon ever, and it went 10x better than my first in Detroit.
I was able to shave 30 minutes off my marathon time, and I want to share 4 things that I think helped me do this while leaving me with energy at the end. Seriously, I felt like I could have done another 2-3 miles!
Here’s what helped:
1. Setting boundaries re: pacing + a pacing timer
I’m a slower runner than all of my friends. That doesn’t mean I’m a worse athlete, and even if I am, that’s really not why I run marathons. However, it does mean that I have to be very careful with how I pace myself, because I know that I’ll be on the course for 6.5+ hours.
I’ve gone “too fast” in the past and burned out halfway through. I burst into tears and then couldn’t stop sobbing from about mile 8 to 13.1 during the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon back in November. This was because of the Florida heat (and NO shade on the course) and going too fast to try to keep up with my friends from the beginning.
It was horrible.
26.2 miles is just too far to gamble with. I wasn’t sure how fast or slow I’d run this marathon, but I knew that I could go off of effort level. My running coach, Kelly Roberts from the Badass Lady Gang, told me before my first marathon that I should go out painfully slow. So slow that I’m frustrated by it.
I made the last-second decision to do 30/30 intervals for this marathon and I’m so glad I did. I kept running until I couldn’t anymore during my first marathon, and I tired out too early. After that, it was too late to implement the intervals at all.
My advice would be to do run/walk intervals from the very beginning, and maintain them no matter how good or bad you feel. Even if we were on a downhill, we abided by the walk interval when it was time. Even if we were coming up on a steeeeeep hill, we ran when it was time to run. This kept us consistent, focused, and got my friends and me to our PRs.
Note: I would not recommend using your phone for the intervals, unless it’s the only thing you’ll be using your phone for. Phones die, and whatever you’re listening to while running, text messages and phone calls, and taking pictures and videos along the course will all drain your battery faster.
I (and several of the pacers at the marathon) used this Gymboss timer. It’s easy to set up, doesn’t require any wifi or bluetooth technology (just batteries), and has both vibration and sound capabilities. It was PERFECT. I know it looks old timey, but that’s what makes it reliable.
Get your own here!
Oh, second note: NEVER use your watch for intervals!!! They’re too hard to change without ending and starting the workout all over, and then your mileage is lost. My pacer learned this the hard way during the Indy Monumental Half Marathon, and I had to leave the group behind because of the timing troubles.
2. Confidence
I’d run this distance before, so I knew that meant that, logically, I could do it again. I was undertrained this time around, but I also knew that going in undertrained is better than being overtrained (due to increased risk of injury, being burnt out, etc.).
Mindset being the key to success may seem like an overblown narrative, but I promise you that it is the MOST important aspect of completing a marathon. Simply having the knowledge of various obstacles I may encounter (stomach issues, fatigue, pain from previous injuries, self-doubt, overheating, being too cold) and how my running coach and science would dictate that I deal with them made me feel like I could run forever.
Just maybe not on all those course hills…
3. Sprite
I can’t pretend to know the exact science behind why drinks like Sprite, Ginger Ale, and other lemon-lime flavors and carbonation help with stomach upset, but they can! I knew going into the race that Sprite is my go-to for nausea and stomach pain, so although I’d never trained with it, I’d had enough Sprite in my life to know that it could only help, not make me feel worse.
My stomach started to rumble in a dangerous way (see point #4) around mile 17. I was very lucky that my friend’s boyfriend was hanging out along the course to support us; he was able to buy me a Sprite and hand it to me as I ran by. (I should tell you - this is against runDisney’s rules. Spectators are not allowed to hand items to runners, so, try at your own risk. In my experience other races seem to be fine with it, but always check the rules first!)
4. Fueling often, but not with anything new
Look, I’m only gonna say this once, and then I’ll deny it forever — but when I tell you I was THISSSS close to 💩’ing my pants during my first marathon…
I stopped for the bathroom probably 7-8 times over 2 miles in Detroit, which is likely what added the most amount of time to my overall finish time. I’m pretty sure I got sick because of 2 things - a bagel with cream cheese that my sister handed me, and a Maurten gel.
Not because these aren’t great things to have during a race — a lot of people swear by them — but because I’d never trained with either before. I get that this should be common sense, but your brain doesn’t exactly think the same way 17 miles into a road race as it does at the start line — I never should have tried anything new, and certainly not that deep into the race when I was basically running the streets of Detroit by myself.
This time around, I packed only what I had trained with several times (at least 3-4 trial runs) and said no to the on-course fuel. Disney offers bananas and sports beans, neither of which I’d tried in the months leading up to the race. As tempting as these items were, I just could not risk the stomach upset.
If you’re curious about my favorite fueling sources, read this post next.
Links:
The DPT Diaries Blog (even more of my rambling!)
xoxo,
Yusra