How to survive the second half of a marathon

If you are well prepared, the first two hours of a marathon should be easy. After that, things start to get a little more complicated in your race. You will become increasingly tired physically and mentally. Everything will be telling you that it’s time to stop, have a rest, take in the view.

During the first two hours, control and efficiency play a predominant part. The perils of the first half are clear; going off too hard because you feel great; not taking enough liquid on board. These will hit you hard in the second half of the race. One of the great things about the really big races like the Flora London Marathon or the Bupa Great North Run is the slowness of the start. From a relative jog you can build up to a steady, pre-determined pace which gets you into a disciplined, controlled rhythm during this key opening stage.

Ignore the Flash Harrys and Hildas who will go roaring off in the first half and bask in the smug knowledge that you will feel better than them, and probably overtake them, in the second half. It is far too easy to get caught up with marathon fever and race along thus depleting your energy stores sooner than you should.

Your style matters as well; try and avoid too much waving to the crowd at least for the first hour. This will help your shoulders relax and it will enable you to work your arms when you’re tired and when you really need to. Smiling, however, is allowed the whole way through!

By now, in training, you need to start practicing and forcing your body to be more efficient in the first half of all your running sessions. Mentally, if you feel stronger and in control, your body will adapt to this psychological advantage and not only will you run more efficiently, you will also stay more controlled.

After two hours, the body starts to be depleted of glycogen stores, which is your main source of energy up until this point, although if you’ve been efficient and controlled you can delay this depletion for a while longer. Eventually everybody succumbs to the tiredness; it’s just how you cope with it when it hits you that determines how fast you can keep going. If you’re pre-warned and ready for it, you can create physical and mental strategies that will aid you over the second half the race.

Staying hydrated throughout is one of the keys to completing a race successfully. This means that you will need to drink small amounts right from the start. Don’t miss a drink station even if it means running over to the other side of the road to get to it. Fluid is your friend especially over 26 miles. If you  drink little but often throughout the race this will also help to delay the fatigue that will inevitably set in.

Mental afflictions occur during the second half as your brain will be telling you that you need to slow down and or stop. You can train to avoid this by doing longer runs in the build up to the event. This way you will be accustomed to the tiredness so you know what to expect when it comes along. The training session should be designed so you run over two hours on quite a few occasions so your body gets used not only to the energy depletion but also the mental tiredness associated with marathon running.

Key factors to help you through this difficult time are:

Running concentration
Concentration should be a natural progression as you do more long-distance training. The more you run the better at concentrating in the difficult sections you will become. Even elite runners find it hard work mentally. So if you can gain an advantage by being able to switch off your brain in certain sections it is amazing how much faster you can run.

Small running goals
Everybody should have a goal for the race. It could be either to finish comfortably or to set a certain time. In addition to your main race goals you should have separate mini-goals that are adjustable and fluid enough for you to be able to change them en route. This means if you are going through a tough patch, set yourself a very short-term goal. Not only will this help you concentrate but it means you only have to get through a few minutes.

The goal can be something as simple as running to the next turn in the road, or the next water station, or the next cheering point. These goals should be attainable, very short term and you should be able to accomplish them within a few minutes. When you have achieved your goal immediately set yourself another.

Pride and running motivation
Pride is an amazing mental factor in all this. Telling friends and neighbours that you are going to finish is an enormous incentive. If you are running for a charity, that is an extra motivation because others are depending on you to succeed.

A small running challenge
Setting yourself a challenge en route may sound a little daft, as a whole marathon is in itself a challenge. But just as with setting short-term goals that challenge may be something like, "Can I overtake five more people?” or, “Can I run the next mile in the set time?". Challenges are very similar to short-term goals, but use both of them as powerful tools during the race.

Other runners around you
You won’t be the only person suffering; remember there are another 30,000 runners out there who will at some point struggle during the race! Be positive, look around you, there’s always someone suffering more than you are.

Finally one of the most successful ways of getting through the second half of the race is to see and hear friends and family. Having them out there watching and cheering for you not only gives you something to focus on, you also get a psychological boost when you know where they are going to be, so ask them to spread out over the second half of the route.

Good luck!