How I Ran A Sub 3 Hour Marathon - My Top Tips ANY Runner Can Use
On 2nd April 2023, I ran my first sub-3-hour marathon. For me, this was a dream come true.
Growing up, I was always the kid who was last at every sports day, and I didn’t naturally excel in any sports. Whilst I enjoyed running, I never expected to one day be able to break the highly sought after sub-3-hour marathon mark. I believed this accomplishment was reserved only for naturally talented and elite runners.
But, to my absolute surprise, I did. My official chip time at the Southampton Marathon 2023 was 2 hours, 58 minutes, and 5 seconds.
My performance on Strava.
Gear I used when running my sub 3 hour marathon
Tailwind Electrolyte Drink (consumed moments before the race started)
Leading up my Sub 3 Hour Marathon and the need for change
The last marathon I took part in, prior to my sub-3-hour success, was the Paris Marathon in October 2021. The course was incredibly flat, the temperature was just right, and the crowds were fantastic. But, I just missed out on the sub 3-hour mark having finished in 3 hours, 2 minutes and 42 seconds.
I had been running properly for a number of years before race day, having taken part in many half marathons, ultra marathons and four marathons. Despite regular training and consistency, my marathon times weren’t great, and I just couldn’t seem to break the sub-3-hour mark. Something needed to change.
I did some research online, experimented with different tactics, and tried new approaches. I firmly believe that a combination of what I’m about to share all contributed to me being able to run a sub 3-hour marathon.
The tips may or may not work for you, but it’s always worth a go!
Small disclaimer. I’m not a professional running coach, nutritionist, or professional athlete. I’m just some random dude on the internet, so please take everything I say with a pinch of salt. Okay, that out of the way, let’s go!
Increase training volume
I ran roughly 60 miles per week in the months leading up to my sub-3-hour marathon. This was a significant increase from the 35-40 mile weeks I had been putting in before my training block started.
It’s a cliché saying in the long-distance endurance sports world, but when it comes to performance, mileage is king.
There is a general correlation between the amount of volume and performance when it comes to training.
The top marathon runners tend to run 80 – 140-mile weeks in peak training periods. The best ultra runners clock up lots of weekly miles on the trails. The best cyclists put in more hours on the saddle.
More weekly volume means that your body will adapt to the stresses placed on it. As a result, it gets stronger.
There are many benefits associated with running, but the physical ones which will impact your performance include:
- Strengthened heart.
- Increasing the number of capillaries (small blood vessels) to your muscles.
- Stronger legs and bones.
- Increased mitochondria (small structures which use oxygen to produce energy).
By running more, you will gain more of these benefits and as a result your physical fitness will improve.
80/20 principle
I followed what is known as the ‘80/20’ principle throughout all of my training. This principle simply states that you should divide your training intensity into 80% easy and 20% harder workouts.
By doing the majority of my runs at an easy pace (roughly 8 minutes 15 seconds per mile), I was able to gradually build my fitness over time whilst minimising my risk of injury. Staying in a low intensity heart rate zone for most of my training meant it felt manageable and like I was comfortably exercising, and making stable progress. Eventually, my body got used to running at an 8 minute 15 second pace and it became a bit too easy, so I found myself naturally increasing my ‘easy’ pace to about 8 minutes per mile.
The other 20% of my runs were done at a faster, more intense pace and got my heart rate up to the higher zones. Typically, these runs would be a weekly 5km parkrun on a Saturday morning, a track interval session on Tuesday evenings with my running club, or a self-guided weekly tempo run.
I like the 80/20 principle for a few reasons.
1. Top athletes, in all fields of endurance sports from cycling, to skiing, to swimming, to running, train in a way which reflects the 80/20 principle.
2. You gradually build fitness overtime and there’s reduced pressure to be running fast all the time.
3. Minimised risk of injury, as you’re not running hard or fast for the majority of runs.
4. You still have the opportunity to get the body used to running at a faster rate in the 20% of higher intensity workouts.
I’d whole heartedly recommend the 80/20 principle of training. If you’re interested in understanding more about this approach, I’d recommend the book 80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower by Matt Fitzgerald.
I prioritised my nutrition
My nutrition prior to my sub-3-hour marathon training block was pretty atrocious. I’d eat sweets, cakes, lots of greasy and fried foods, and fruits and vegetables weren’t on the menu as often as they should have been.
When it comes to training and performance, I believe that your body is like a machine, or a sports car. Just like a sports car, it needs the best fuel possible to perform at its best. If a formula 1 race car, was to have low grade, low quality fuel put into it, then it would likely have an impact on its performance. However, if that same car is filled with high grade, high quality fuel, then it will perform better. The same can be send for us as runners. We need the best fuel to recover and perform optimally.
Wanting to practice what I preached, I made a conscious effort in the months leading up to race-day to start eating better.
To hold myself accountable, I downloaded the popular app ‘My Fitness Pal’. I set daily macronutrient goals (fats, proteins, carbohydrates) and calorie limit goals, and made a conscious effort to hit them everyday by tracking the foods and drinks which I consumed. I won’t state my exact targets, as I am not a nutritionist, and everyone has different needs but there was a heavy emphasis on carbs on big training days and protein for recovery. I also used my Garmin Forerunner 945 watch as a rough guide for the calories I was burning each day.
In addition to these macronutrient goals I made a big effort to eat as many unprocessed foods as possible. Whilst processed food doesn’t necessarily mean unhealthy food, processed foods often contain high levels of saturated fat, added salt, sugar, and an array of other additives. This means I tried eating many fruits, vegetables, meats and fish with minimal processing, nuts, seeds and more.
I’m not going to pretend that I never ate any processed food. That would be a lie and unpractical. Plus, some foods are processed which are pretty healthy and great sources of fuel. Whole wheat bread, pasta, croissants. But, by sticking to an unprocessed rule of thumb in my diet I improved my health drastically and I felt better each day during my training block.
Feeling fit, healthy and ready on race day, I ate my typical breakfast of porridge and a chopped up banana, complimented by a black coffee. 20 minutes before the race, I had another banana to top up the glycogen stores before kicking off.
Nutrition is very important for performance in endurance running. By sticking to a mainly unprocessed diet, and holding myself accountable to daily calorie limits and macronutrient goals, I was able to improve my health which resulted in a more stable training block and better performance on race day.
Improved my sleep
One of the most important things I did during my training block was making big improvements to my sleep.
I am someone who has mild to moderate insomnia, which occasionally rears its ugly head at the most irritating of times in my life. When I’m in an insomnia episode, I lay there in my bed sometimes for hours. Unable to sleep. Thinking about everything. Worrying about being tired the next day. Waking up tired, groggy, and non-refreshed. And I do it all again the next night. Needless to say, this is not ideal when training for a sub-3 hour marathon.
Quality sleep is essential for so many things, not just physical, in our health and wellbeing including:
- Regulate emotions.
- Move memories from short to long term storage.
- Physical healing and strengthening of muscles (an important one for running).
- Managing stress.
- Reduced risk of disease.
- Immune system boost.
The list goes on. Sleep is essential, which I’m sure most of us know. But, I had a series of unhealthy habits around bedtime…
Whilst I naturally have bouts of insomnia from time to time, my bedtime routine and habits weren’t doing me any favours.
I’d drink caffeine late in the day, had no regularity to my sleep, didn’t sleep for long enough, the temperature in my room was wrong, and I’d be on my phone doing random bits until right before I tried to fall asleep. All big problems for quality sleep.
I’d wake up, feeling tired and uninspired and as a result my training was not as good as it could have been. I wouldn’t feel too bad about missing a workout, and I found I wasn’t putting in as much effort or going for as far.
I read Matthew Walker’s popular book Why We Sleep. Walker is a sleep scientist and professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkely. In the book, he brilliantly breaks down what sleep is, why we need to sleep, and how to get better sleep.
The book was revelation to me, and I felt more educated and enabled to improve the quality of my sleep. I made some changes, and my sleep got much better. This allowed me to recover better in between training sessions, and feel refreshed and ready to go on Southampton Marathon race day.
Improving my sleep has had a major impact not only on my running training and performance, but also on the quality of my life. I made a video about improving sleep for runners. If you struggle with sleep and find its impacting your running, it may just help you out.
Race Strategy
To be totally honest, I didn’t actually have any meaningful race strategy in my head when I rocked up on race day. I just wanted to run as fast as I could, and see if I could break the sub 3-hour mark.
The closest thing I could think of, to a race strategy, was wanting to run the first half in a time of sub 1 hour 30 minutes to set me up for another sub 1 hour 30 minute half marathon to secure a sub-3 finish. Not exactly scientific, or helpful with the mile to mile pacing which is crucial for having a good shot at breaking sub-3.
I finished the first 13.1 miles in a time of 1 hour 26 minutes and 20 seconds, which put me right on track for a sub-3-hour marathon.
If I was to do my sub-3 hour attempt again, I’d formulate more of a strategy. Firstly, I’d look at the pace targets needed to go sub 3 which are:
- 6 minutes, 50 seconds per mile.
- 4 minutes, 15 seconds per kilometres.
Knowing this, I’d aim to hit at least this target pace during the whole race.
I’d also aim for a negative split, which is seen as the gold standard in racing. A negative split is where you run the second half of the race faster than your first half. There are many benefits to running a marathon, going for sub-3, via a negative split strategy including:
- Physically easier on the body, as you gradually warm up with the first half being slower.
- More control. Running slower in the first half means you’ll feel in the driving seat over your pace in part two.
- Proved and tested method. Most world records, and national records, for running have been set via a negative split.
Race clothing for keeping cool
On race day, I picked lightweight and minimal clothing. Running a fast marathon, I knew I’d be putting my body through a great stress, and it would get hot having to transport more blood around my body and generate energy.
All the physical exertion during my sub-3 attempt would create lots of heat and I knew I’d be sweating more than usual. With running so intensely, for so long, there’s a risk of overheating which isn’t a pleasant feeling, and it can also negatively impact performance.
To reduce the risk of overheating, and to cool my body down, I picked and wore clothes I knew would help with ventilation. I wore a vest and running shorts, with thin sports socks, and shoes which were well ventilated.
All of these clothing items helped to ventilate my body and keep it cool on race day. Whilst I felt like I was working hard, and it was a massive effort, I never felt like I was going to overheat.
Conclusion
There you have it, my thoughts on how I was able to run a sub-3 hour marathon and my top tips for any other runner. There are more tips which can help for running a sub-3 hour marathon, I’m sure, but these are the ones which helped me finally accomplish a long-standing goal I’d had for years.
Thanks for reading, and good luck with your running.
Craig
Running Cafe
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