Ask Jo Our resident Olympian, Jo Pavey, on marathon missteps and how to avoid them
I felt unfamiliar putting more emphasis on the long run. I didn’t have a GPS watch and I did my long run on an offroad trail. It was difficult to assess my pace; a better indication of how fast I was running would have helped me to judge target race pace and improved my ability to sustain it. The long run is important, but I now also feel I perform better in longer races if I give high priority to good-quality shorter intervals – workouts with fast kilometre reps and even 400m repeats with a short recovery help to make race pace feel more comfortable. I perform badly if race pace feels fast from the outset. I also realised how difficult it was to hit target times close to high-mileage days, so I learnt to factor in easier days when I wanted to focus on measured intervals and I used unmeasured intervals at other times.
During the marathon, fuelling can make a big difference to performance; I wish I’d sought more advice from experienced marathon runners on this. By the end of my first marathon I felt quite sick; my technique of drinking fluids on the run needed work.
I also wish I’d had a better appreciation of how tough it would feel after the 20-mile mark if I went off too fast. I got a bit carried away and ended up dramatically slowing down in the last miles. I learnt my lesson.
Do I need to warm up and cool down for easy runs? It’s not necessary to do a long warm-up, as you’d do before a faster workout, but it’s still advisable to get your body moving to prepare for running, so do a short warm-up of some dynamic stretching. This will gently raise your heart rate and move your joints and muscles through a sufficient range of motion. After your run, cool down with some gentle static stretches – you’ll be warmed up, so it’s a good time to work on maintaining range of movement in your joints and muscles. This will get your body ready for your next hard workout, as well as help to prevent injury.
What’s the best remedy for muscle soreness in the days after a hard session? On the day of your hard run, a light, flush-out-type massage is useful, followed by a deeper massage a couple of days later. You can also use a foam roller to work on tight areas. Also, in the days following a challenging session, a warm bath is ideal for getting blood flow to the muscles and easing out stiffness. Stretching is also an important part of any recovery strategy – work on taking your muscles through a good – but not excessive – range of movement and identify tight areas that may need attention to prevent a niggle from developing. Easy runs in the couple of days after the workout will help, and be sure to get enough sleep – when the real recovery takes place.