How to run a marathon faster

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Are you looking to make your next marathon time your best yet? Whether you’ve completed one marathon or you sign up for several events each year, there is always a little room for improvement in running! Running 26.2 miles is no easy feat, and finishing at any time is to be applauded, but how can you run a marathon faster?

Do some practice races

When we say do some practice races, we’re not talking about completing marathons but rather signing up to a few shorter races like 5k, 10k or even half marathon events to prepare you for a full marathon. Adding a few of these races into your training will give you a good opportunity to make sure you are comfortable with your running gear and get past some of those race day nerves before your bigger event.

Set a realistic goal

If you’ve only run one marathon before, it’s probably not going to be realistic to expect to complete your next race in the same time as Paula Radcliffe. You will, however, be able to use the information from that last race to come up with a realistic goal for improvement. Work out your average pace per mile from your total race time and use this to ascertain how many seconds you can realistically shave off of your pace.

Get into the right mindset

You don’t just need a strong pair of legs and lungs to run a marathon, you need a strong head too! Getting into a positive mindset when you are feeling the burn at the 20 mile mark can be tough, but it can make a real difference to your performance. Try to break the course down so that you think of it as a series of checkpoints or landmarks; running a few 3 mile stretches sounds much more appealing than one long 10 mile stretch, doesn’t it? It’s easy to compare yourself to other runners too but remember that everyone is running their own race. You’ve put the time into training so just remember that you can do it!