Those who collapse at the end of a marathon often have enough endurance, but too little resilience. The solution lies not in more kilometres, but in pure movement time.
In the final kilometres of a marathon, the painful truth of training often reveals itself. Your fitness might be enough for the first 30 kilometres, but after that, your muscles have taken hours of impact. Your running posture collapses and every step costs an extreme amount of energy. According to a report by Runner's World, this fading at the end is not inevitable. You can maintain your strength right to the finish line by focusing less on pure mileage and more on so-called time on your feet during training.
Time on your feet refers to the total time you spend running, walking or doing other light movement. Christine Rockey, a running coach and lecturer, explained to Runner's World that this activity promotes blood flow without exposing the joints to the hard impact of running. It is about keeping the body in motion over a long period of time. This helps you build the necessary resilience for the full 42.195 kilometres.
Chris Twiggs from Galloway Training Programs also emphasises that extensive walking is excellent preparation for race day, as it simulates the long-duration stress. If you focus on duration instead of distance, you can also react much better to heat, hills or how your body currently feels. You do not have to force a specific mileage at all costs.
You do not have to give up your intense running sessions or long runs. Instead, use the days in between for gentle movement. Housework, walking the dog, shopping or a relaxed ride on your bike will get you moving without stressing the body like an extra run. Even during running training itself, you can reduce the pace on hot days and take walking breaks to reach your planned training time injury-free, as running coach Steve Mura recommends.
But be careful: more is not always better. Anyone who builds in too much extra walking time too quickly risks overuse pain and compromises recovery for the important running sessions, according to exercise scientist Jason Machowsky. Therefore, increase the load only slowly.
Your takeaway: Supplement your marathon training with conscious, easy movement in everyday life to accustom your muscles to hours of activity without additional shock impact.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.