{"id":928,"date":"2026-06-07T19:11:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/?p=928"},"modified":"2026-06-07T19:11:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T23:11:21","slug":"how-to-not-sabotage-your-first-or-next-marathon-part-i-of-iii-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/?p=928","title":{"rendered":"How To Not Sabotage Your First or Next Marathon – Part I of III – Training"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You might think an article like this is not needed, but there are so many ways a marathon race can turn upside down.  Just ask anyone that has run distance races.  It’s not just what you do on race day that matters but the days, weeks, and months leading up to that race day as well.  All of the things you do or don’t do matter all the way to the finish line.  Having run 3 marathons and 16 half marathons, I have experienced a lot of mistakes from training to actual race days mistakes.  This will be a three part blog series covering Training, Taper\/Pre-race, and the Race.  

Disclaimer: this is just my own personal opinions as a runner based off my own experience.  I am not claiming to be an elite professional runner.  These are the lessons learned from personal mistakes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training Rules (Mine)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Ramp miles up slowly.<\/strong>\u00a0 Lots of people will give you this advice, and I think it is true but how fast you ramp up is relative to your body.\u00a0 Some people can ramp up quicker than others, so it really comes down to you listening to your body.\u00a0 When you start marathon training, most people are probably going to try to run two or three 20-22 milers in training, and maybe have a training cycle or 12-20 weeks depending on your fitness level and your “base”, which I define as the longest distance you can run or did run recently.\u00a0 So plan accordingly.\u00a0 If you are currently able to run 2-3 miles without walking, make that your base and start from there. Also, if your training cycle is only 12 weeks, that’s going to be hard for many people to train correctly for a marathon.\u00a0 You will risk injury setbacks, and then you will need to rest, taking even more time away from training, which leads to a self-sabotaged race!\u00a0 Also if you are at that beginning level of 2-3 miles, don’t run 3 miles one Sunday and then try for 6-7 the next Sunday.\u00a0 That really is a great way to create an injury.\u00a0 If you need a training guide, there are so many on the internet.\u00a0 Find a decent training schedule to follow.

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  2. Training schedules are guidelines only.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>I made the mistake of following a training schedule to rigidly, which led to injuries.\u00a0 This is where it is important to keep listening to your body as you train, because you are going to be doing a lot of running for months, and you want to avoid injury.\u00a0 \u00a0If you feel like you need an extra rest day,\u00a0take the rest day<\/strong>.\u00a0 You are fatigued or your legs or body are just screaming at you, take the rest day, believe me.\u00a0 And I mean occasionally you might need one, but you still need to train. I am not saying you miss 2-5 runs in a row, while you watch tv instead! That’s equally bad.\u00a0 The point is, if you are tired, your foot hurts, a muscle is super tight, something else hurts, instead of running, nurse that injury.\u00a0 The roads will still be there waiting for you.\u00a0
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  3. Do follow the schedule’s types of runs.\u00a0<\/strong>What I mean by that is, your long run is a different type of run than a tempo run, or doing Yasso 800’s.\u00a0 These types of runs are preparing you for your race.\u00a0 Every time you go for a run, you should not be thinking , “I need to run as hard as I can!”\u00a0 Quite often your long runs will be slower or should be, because it helps build endurance.\u00a0 Tempo runs may have your running several miles at “race pace”, which is the pace you’re aiming for in the race.\u00a0 Trust the science on these types of runs and try to do them.
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  4. Diet is super important.\u00a0 <\/strong>What you eat during training matters.\u00a0 You may have some rocky runs if you were eating cheeseburger\/fries and washing it down with beer the day before.\u00a0 I refer to this as the “bloat run.”\u00a0 You’ll get through it, but it won’t be great!\u00a0 The day before a really long run, I try to hydrate sufficiently (but not overhydrate), abstain from alcohol, eat carb meals with some protein.\u00a0 Find the meals that work for you day before long runs because you will want to do the same exact thing the day before your actual race.\u00a0 You can still have beer and still eat cheeseburgers.\u00a0 It just a matter of when you do that (AFTER a run is perfect).\u00a0 Try to eat fruits, vegetables, lean proteins for the most part.\u00a0

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  5. Rest is also very important.\u00a0 <\/strong>Your body is going to be demanded to do a lot for 3-5 months, plus on race day, and it needs rest.\u00a0 Consider this part of your training.\u00a0 If you cannot handle a rest day, try to force yourself to do it.\u00a0 When your body is tired and not getting the rest it needs, that’s when injuries start to creep in.\u00a0 A tired muscle, tendons, ligaments, that never gets the rest it needs becomes overexerted, sore, inflamed, and injured.\u00a0 It can lead to stress fractures too.\u00a0 And then you will be resting, but for a much longer time or you will be hobbling through runs that are not helping you at all and making things worse.

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  6. Hydrate and fuel as you plan to do in the race.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Now is the time to experiment with energy gels, sports drinks, salt capsules, etc., not on the actual race day.\u00a0 For a marathon, you will not have enough glycogen stored to carry you through the entire race and you want the glycogen to last as long as possible (glycogen is your stored glucose that is usually the first source of energy for your muscles.\u00a0 Once it’s tapped out, your body relies on other sources, such as burning fat and proteins as energy).\u00a0 This is one of the reasons “hitting the wall” happens – depletion of glycogen.\u00a0 So you want to sustain it as long as possible and you can do that using energy gels and drinks.\u00a0 \u00a0But the issue is, some energy might not agree with you. They might make you feel nauseous, so you need find the ones that work best for you while also getting used to it too.\u00a0 It’s also good to know what the race will be serving on race day.\u00a0 Train with that or consider carrying your own but carry enough for the whole race.\u00a0 I have used Gatorade endurance formula , which is what Chicago Marathon served the years I ran it. I also used Gatorade energy chews.\u00a0 Find what works for you.\u00a0

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  7. Stretch after runs, not before. Get a foam roller.<\/strong>\u00a0 Stretching before a run will not help too much.\u00a0 Muscles respond much better to stretching when they are warm like after a run.\u00a0 Stretching is one of the most important things you can do, but I must admit, I am not good at always remembering to do it after a run or wanting to do it.\u00a0 But stretching helps reduce lactic acid and soreness.\u00a0 The foam roller is what many call the “frenemy.” \u00a0The goal of stretching should be to prevent injuries, not to treat injuries.\u00a0 If you only stretch after you’re injured, you waited too long to stretch.\u00a0

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  8. Know when you and cannot run through an injury.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>I have covered this in another post<\/a>, but largely it depends on the injury. Is it a real injury or just soreness?\u00a0 Marathon training is pretty taxing on the body, so injuries happen.\u00a0 Be smart about when to run and when to rest.\u00a0

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  9. Run at the time of day that your race will be.<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0If your race starts at 7AM, then you should be running at least your weekly long run around that time. This gives your body time to adjust to what race day will be like.\u00a0 You might be up 2-3 hours before the run, drinking coffee, eating, etc.\u00a0 \u00a0Find out how much time you need to prepare and be ready for race start.\u00a0 Practice hydrating, what to eat for breakfast, etc.\u00a0 \u00a0If you think your race will get hot in the middle of the race, practice running in higher temps too.\u00a0 If you can adjust to that, you will be find cooler temps even easier on race day.\u00a0 And if it is hot, you will still be prepared.\u00a0 I am not saying go run in 95 degrees!\u00a0 Use your own common sense with this and know your own limitations. I have run in 85-90 degrees, but I know my limits and distances to do for myself.\u00a0<\/li>\n
  10. Put a half marathon on the race schedule.\u00a0<\/strong> When you are running in the 10-13+ mile range for your long runs, go ahead and put a half marathon race on the calendar.\u00a0 If breaks up the monotony of running the same route over and over every week.\u00a0 \u00a0Enjoy some cheering from the crowd and earn a medal.\u00a0 Make marathon training fun.\u00a0 If you never ran a half marathon before, it is a preview of what’s to come.\u00a0 Treat it as a training run.\u00a0 You don’t need to “jog” it but you should not be going full force all out crazy running either.\u00a0 This race isn’t the end prize.\u00a0 If you don’t know if you can hold back and treat it as a training run, then maybe don’t sign up for an event.\u00a0 \u00a0Because if you run harder than you would if it was a routine weekly long run, you are increasing the risk of injury and throwing off weeks of future training runs.\u00a0 \u00a0It’s not worth it for a half marathon race. But, you should drink the post race beer and eat the food!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n\n

    Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Hopefully this is helpful.\u00a0 If you are a seasoned marathon runner, maybe your experience has been different than mine.\u00a0 Comment below with your own tips or things I might have missed.\u00a0 I followed these rules in my last marathon race, and I only missed one training run due to being sick.\u00a0 To beginners, use this as a general guide and hopefully it is helpful. If anyone has questions, you can send me a message.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Introduction You might think an article like this is not needed, but there are so many ways a marathon race can turn upside down.  Just ask anyone that has run distance races.  It’s not just what you do on race day that matters but the days, weeks, and months leading up to that race day as well.  All of the things you do or don’t do matter<\/p>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,54,16,5],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-running","tag-half-marathon","tag-marathon","tag-marathon-training","tag-running-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4FxFG-eY","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":946,"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions\/946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ejameswhite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}