Just ran my first marathon at the London Marathon on Sunday. Amazing experience and atmosphere, but I’d really appreciate some feedback on what I could improve for next time.
Results vs. Expectations going in
- Chip time of 4:00:36. Splits were pretty even (9:02–9:12 min/mi throughout)
- Runna estimated time was 3:27 - 3:35. Knew that was already quite ambitious, so intended to do the first 20mi at 3:40 pace and then reassess.
Training
- Followed a 16-week Runna plan fairly closely, only missing one week (albeit the peak week) due to injury. Otherwise, no issues with the sessions or pace, including several long runs with MP segments.
- Avg ~28 miles/week, peak ~45 miles
- No strength training
- Plan had a 3 week taper, which ended up really being 4 weeks due to the missed week.
On the day
- Had a few logistical issues at the start which meant I started ~40min later in the 4:15/4:20 wave
- As expected, the start was slower than I was hoping for but equally I thought this might be a good way to force myself to hold back and not go out too quick.
- However, the course remained congested for ~20mi and I found myself constantly fighting through and bumping into people. And then even when I had space, legs felt like lead and I couldn’t pick up speed to MP.
- HR felt controlled the whole way — never out of breath, just no leg turnover
- By mile 22+, muscle fatigue set-in and it was just a case of getting to the end
- Heat felt like more of an issue than I was expecting. After mile 18, constantly felt dehydrated and on the verge of bonking despite averaging 60g of carbs per hour from my gels.
Does anyone have any tips / insights on what to work on for next time - namely around the gap between training / race day pace itself? I know the late wave didn't help, but I would have expected that my legs could pick up the pace to MP, even for just part of the race given I've done it throughout the training block without any issue.
My main initial thoughts are that: (i) my weekly mileage was just too low; and (ii) lack of strength training. But obviously any other insights and thoughts from all you more experienced runners would be greatly appreciated!!