How important is running for a marathon?
Every year in the US, more than 200,000 people run marathons big and small, and according to a study published in the journal Marathon & Beyond, out of every 10 runners, up to 4 have problems calling "hit the wall" (hit the wall). because the body runs out of energy. "At the 30th kilometer I started to feel like I couldn't keep up the pace. It was terrible! I couldn't make my legs run faster. The harder I tried, the more it hurt," a runner told Runner's World.
The 30km mark is always a challenge in a marathon. Many runners run very hard in the first 30km, but from the 31st, 32nd kilometer onwards, they suddenly have no strength, have to walk to the finish line, making the time to complete the whole journey sometimes takes up to 6, even 7 o'clock.
There are two main reasons for this wall collision. The first is because the runner is depleted of energy in the form of carbohydrates stored in the muscles of the legs or in the liver. Normally when the tank of carbs is empty, the body will be forced to start the metabolism using fat instead of carbs. As a result, the runner has to slow down significantly. The second case is more common and simpler, that is the runner is not strong enough, or in other words, the runner's legs are not strong enough, to run 42.195km in a marathon. In the second case, the marathon running plans have long running sessions, sometimes up to 32km, 35km.
Long runs are designed to help runners increase their weekly training kilometers, making their bodies stronger to endure 42.195 kilometers in a competition. Marathon is still an endurance competition, so it is very important to train for a total distance of up to 60 - 70 km weekly. Once we get used to this distance, our bodies automatically optimize the conversion of energy from carbs and fat.
As mentioned above, the most important thing when training for a marathon is the total number of weekly training kilometers, not the number of kilometers run in a session. If you run only one 32km session during your training, and you don't run more than 40km per week, the risk of having to trudge through the end of the marathon is still very high. However, if training up to 60-70km per week, then even if the run is only about 26km, the runner is still capable of completing the marathon well. This is also the main content of the Hanson Marathon lesson plan.
An example of a lesson plan a few days before a 25km week run using the Hanson method (excerpt from the Hanson Basics lesson plan):
Monday: light, short run Tuesday: light running, relatively long Wednesday: speed run Friday: light, short run Saturday: run relatively long, but slow Sunday: run 25km
But the most essential thing when training for a marathon is running a sufficient number of kilometers weekly. For first-time runners, the recommended level is a minimum of 60km. For those looking to improve their performance, running 80-90km weekly is nothing new. Top professional athletes like Eliud Kipchoge will run at least...200km/week, but that's the story of African athletes.
The Hanson Marathon Method can be used as the basis for this training. This is a "slow but steady" method, suitable for both newbies and good runners who want to improve their speed. For newbie runners, when they meet the above conditions, they can also spend a 32-34km run about 6-8 weeks before the competition day to "wind up their spirits", convincing themselves that they can conquer at least 32km of the competition. This is completely optional, but it can give you a mental edge.
