How to run your first trail marathon
This guide was first written in July ‘22 and only shared among friends and has been updated and will be updated again and again.
As I have done my first four trail marathons (I count any race 30k+ and 1k+ of vertical meters into that same category), I learned a few valuable lessons that might be helpful for first timers. I have set it up in the categories of Nutrition, Running form and Race Strategy and I do think this is the right order or priority. In long-distance Triathlon, the pros say nutrition is the fourth discipline, and in trail racing or any long-distance running over 3 hours it certainly is the second discipline next to running. I hope this will help you master your first Trail Marathon and also prevent a few rookie mistakes, that others have made for you. If you have done your first or many trail marathons, of course, I'd be more than happy to receive your feedback via e-mail and include it as we go.
Nutrition
Test your nutrition before the race. Test it in long runs, even in those you don't really need external nutrition yet. There's no harm in taking a running backpack with some liquid carbs or some gels & a soft bottle on a 90min run and start sipping on it every 15 mins to try it out.
Plan Carbs, Water & Electrolyte Intake before you race. You should have an overall idea of how many litres you want to consume, how many carbs you'll take in and how much salt you'll get in your body. Salt for most should not be a problem on these kind of distances, but your drinks or gels should have some salt to it. For drinks, you can aim for 0.6l-1.2l per hour - depending on how much you sweat and can take it. For carbs, you should aim for 60-90g of carbs per hour. This might sound a lot, but you will need it. So for a 5 hour run, you will want to have access 350g+ carbs available. Of course, if you can stomach it, feel free to take in Coke on a refreshment point (it has 9g of carbs per 100ml and those small cups typically have 150-200ml).
Start consuming your carbs & water from the very beginning! Do not wait when you feel the need for it. Your body has absorption limitations and you will want to fuel up on what you are burning constantly. A good idea is to take something in every 15-20 minutes. You probably won't feel like it, but please do it.
Bulk up on carbs 2-3 days before the race. No need to be super scientific, but generally eat a high carb diet. It's certainly not the time to lose weight to run better. You will want to have full carb storage in your muscles. Depending on your body, you will have storage for 300 - 600g of carbs in your body. This plus everything you take in will be your race fuel - and depending on your fat metabolism also some fat of course. Relying on fat works on much lower heart rates only though, so you will need to slow down.
As a small digression into how much carbs you need: A gram of carbohydrates stores about 4 kcal. Let's say, an average person burns about 1000 kcal at marathon and long distance races. Now if you know it is going to take you 5 hours, you'll need 5000kcal. Again, let's say this average person has about 400g of glycogen (essentially carb) storage in their muscles, then this serves about 1600 kcal for the race. The deficit here is 3100kcal. Now, not all your energy will come from carbs of course. or the equivalent of 475g of carbs, that is missing to fuel the race. Therefore, this person would need to get in 95g of carbs every hour. This of course highly varies on your actual energy burn, your glycogen stores and then your fat metabolism, as you might be able to utilise fat in the beginning of the race, when your heart rate is still lower, but it might give you an idea of what is possible with consuming more carbs.
Do not drink large amounts before you plan to run a fast downhill. When you know that you have a longer climb, where you'll powerwalk, make sure you consume your liquids early. Taking big amounts of liquids on the summit before descending will make your stomach turn upside down.
Running form
Running with backpack will change your form and also running a lot more ups and downs will change your form. There is a good portion of cramps that happen during those 3-6h races, that don’t stem from lack of electrolytes, but from muscle overusage.
It is therefore absolutely essential to remind yourself of good running form, especially when fatiguing. It's best to have an easy process for getting back into “the zone” of good running form. For me it is: 1) Breath deep, 2) stretch arms overhead, 3) pull feet high my butt and 4) ensure high cadence. Especially when it starts hurting it is absolutely crucial to keep the running form well. The more you crunch and overstride, the more imbalanced your running will be and the faster you will hurt more. You might even be able to reverse some pain and cramps.
Racing Strategy
Be conservative for the first 80% of the race. The thing with any very long distance race is, it always only gets really hard at the end. It's is a very exponential distribution. This means, you will want to avoid harsh pain for the majority of the race, especially if you don't know yourself well and you don't know the course exactly. A good rule of thumb is to stay conservative for the first 80% of the race. If you think you go slow, go slower! If you think you are going to take 5 hours, expect that in the last hour you will cover the least amount of distance. So rather be at 85% of the distance at the 4 hour mark. If you then happen to be fresher than expected, of course, play with it and see if you make up some spots. 99% of the field will slow down in the last 20% of the race, so having some extra energy will feel amazing!
Me getting ready for my first trail marathon - and generally marathon - on January 8th in Trieste: La Corsa della Bora Ecomarathon.
