I vividly remember my first marathon. I can still visualize the preparation, the excitement and anticipation, the effortlessness of the first half of the race … and the pain and agony of the last eight miles!

I hit the “Wall” during my first marathon, and I hit it hard! By the brutal end, my pace slowed by nearly two minutes per mile, and my second half of the race was 16 minutes slower than the first. Parents covered the eyes of their children as I lurched by them, and grown men wept at the sight of me. It was ugly.

I’d like to say that this was an isolated incident, but it happened in my next three ‘thons as well. Finally, I decided enough is enough, that I was either going to learn how to remove the Wall, or stop running marathons altogether. Needless to say, I preferred the first option, and began studying up on how to scale the Wall.

First, what is the “Wall“? Our bodies are primarily fueled by high-octane glycogen (carbohydrates) during a marathon. The other fuel we use is fat, which uses oxygen less efficiently. Our bodies tend to burn off the glycogen first, and once that is depleted, it will switch over to fat. This causes you to slow down, feel fatigued, and hit the “Wall”.

Many people develop a pessimistic “Eeyore mentality”, and think, “Oh, there’s always a Wall. You can’t run a marathon without a Wall…” WRONG! The Wall is NOT an inevitable fact of the marathon, but merely a symptom of poor marathon preparation and race-day strategy. Fixing these training and pacing issues will allow your body to store and burn glycogen more efficiently, utilize fat better, and scale the marathon Wall.

My own testimony is that after learning and employing these “anti-Wall” habits, my marathoning vastly improved. My next five marathons were much more enjoyable and productive than the first four, and included numerous PR’s, Top 5 finishes, and my first overall marathon win. Below are five tips that can be used to defeat the wall before the race even begins. In Part II, five more tips will be outlined on beating the wall during the race.

1) Train with a plan. Haphazard training will serve to only put you in a lot of pain on race day. Not only do you need to put the mileage in, but the mileage needs to be distributed in a systematic training plan that employs optimal quality and quantity.
Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning, Daniels’ Running Formula, and Higdon’s Ultimate Training Guide (among other titles) are very thorough references that offer training plans. There is a bevy of online resources that offer solid plans as well, such as Runners World and Jeff Galloway.

A good marathon training schedule will last 16 to 24 weeks and will feature long runs and speed workouts designed to train you to burn fuel more efficiently and be able to hold a pace for the full 26.2. My own marathon walls virtually disappeared when I started training “smarter” rather than harder, and began using training tactics derived from Pftizinger’s ideas. For example, a key for me was increasing my speed over a 20-mile long run, up marathon pace itself, instead of plodding along slow and easy as I had done for years. Also, scheduled lactic threshold (LT) tempo runs and marathon pace (MP) running helped push me over previous late-race barriers.

2) Taper effectively: not too much … and not too little. Although there is disagreement among experts regarding duration and quantity of the taper, everyone agrees that some sort of taper is necessary to restore glycogen, repair muscle damage, and provide both a psychological and physiological edge of freshness. You should be wary of insufficient tapering, as it can leave you sore and fatigued on race day. Conversely, taper too long and it can actually cause you to lose hard-earned fitness and bonk out prematurely during the marathon.

This is what happened to me during my marathon in 2004. I performed a three-week taper that reduced my mileage from 100 miles/week down to under 30 the week of the race. Three weeks and 300% volume reduction was too much. I crashed and burned hard by Mile 18, leaving me hurting, confused, and on the verge of dropping out. I walked/ran to finish the race, but later realized that it was my abrupt taper that killed me. I found great success in 2005 using two-week tapers that reduced mileage by 10-20% each week, leaving me fresh but with full endurance. Everyone is a little different, and should find the best taper method that works with their particular training plan and respective mileage.

3) Know your capabilities. It is essential to not only have a time goal, but to have some evidence that you are capable of achieving that goal! Many times, we fool ourselves into thinking we are in better shape than we really are by plowing through “easy” runs and workouts too fast. Then we are left scratching our heads when we hit the Wall at Mile 20. However, an unbiased race performance will more accurately demonstrate our true fitness.

A great way to dial in on your marathoning capabilities is to run a race 3 to 5 weeks before the marathon. 5k’s and 10k’s are so-so indicators of marathon performance, but not nearly as accurate as running a race in the 15k to 30k range. I personally prefer the half marathon, because it is long enough to truly test your endurance, but short enough for complete recovery within a couple weeks. Take your finish time from this “scouting race” and plug it into a race calculator, such as those found at Runworks or Runners World websites, to predict your marathon time. You can then use this benchmark to estimate your true fitness and proper marathon pace.

4) Stock up on glycogen (carbo-load). Loading up on glycogen via carbohydrates is essential during the week of the marathon. This is a good thing if you love pasta! During the final three days prior to the race, lower your training volume and intensity while increasing your carbohydrate consumption. Whole-grain breads, pastas, rice, potatoes, corn, and fruit are excellent carbohydrate sources. However, you should avoid processed sugars and junk food.

Glycogen loading in this manner will allow your muscles to store up to 2000 (some say 2500) calories of fuel, which will be enough to get most people through at least Mile 20 of a marathon without additional fueling during the race itself. In the past I had chowed down on pasta on only the eve of the race; after learning about proper glycogen loading I fueled myself from three days out and went on to run my first “Wall-less” marathon.

5) Strive for positive, long-term health patterns. This is essentially common sense, but doing as your mother told you can go a long way toward avoiding the Wall. Runners need between 8-9 hours of sleep per day (consistently). Eat healthy foods that fuel the body and reduce inflammation. Find an array of supplements that address your personal issues of concern, but that also will not empty your wallet. Snuff out sicknesses as soon as they start by getting extra rest, hydration, and medical care.

These long-term health habits won’t directly make you faster, but a healthy, rested body is better suited for rigorous and consistent training due. These healthy practices can lead to increased energy levels and help prevent prolonged “sick” breaks from training.

In my experiences, one can “fake” their way through a 5k or even 10k while being mildly sick or fatigued from lack of sleep. However, the marathon is a beast that knows all and reveals all. Unhealthy living patterns inevitably reveal themselves during a marathon; likely in the form of …. you guessed it …. the infamous Wall.

Use these strategies during the months, weeks, and days preceding your marathon - but also remember that even the best preparation can be flushed down the toilet if you use a poor strategy during the race itself. That’s why Part II will outline five race-day methods for surmounting the “Wall”. Stay tuned!

Also check out “Hitting the Wall and How to Run Through It”, by Jim Fortner, TFS’s November 2006 “Sucess Story” and a Guest Contributor.

Research sources and for further reading: [“Advanced Marathoning” by Pfitzinger and Douglas], [Tinman’s Marathon Articles], [Runner’s World], [Jim2’s Running Page]