How to run marathons faster: run more, do strength training, lose weight before race, ultrarunners teach marathon debutante
Hongkonger Bhakti Mathur, having run her first marathon, seeks advice from two ultrarunners on how to improve her times, and makes some unexpected discoveries about her body
Having run eight half-marathons with a personal best of one hour and 57 minutes, I ran my first marathon in November, in four hours and 45 minutes, aged 45. My times have been close to pre-race predictions based on my training. I always felt, though, that I could do better. But how?
Training harder seemed like an obvious answer, but I had found my pre-marathon training to be quite difficult. I had zealously followed a recommended programme, running three to four times a week, mixing long runs with speed work and tempo runs, and complementing this with cross-training, yoga and stretching. The thought of notching up the speeds or increasing the weekly mileage made me cringe.
To learn what other amateur runners who do clock great times do differently, I visited Joint Dynamics, a gym and sports clinic that works with elite runners in Hong Kong. I described my frustrations to co-owner and senior athletic trainer David Jacquier, who then put me through a comprehensive physical evaluation.
A machine called the Bod Pod measured my body mass index, body fat and metabolic rates. To evaluate my strength (muscles) and mobility (joints), he had me do squats, lunges, crawls and twists. The results were illuminating.
Even though I don’t look it, I have a high percentage of body fat and a relatively low metabolic rate. Jacquier also identified an imbalance in my body: my right side, particularly my hip, is weaker than the left. This imbalance causes my right hip to pop out when I run, putting pressure on my right iliotibial band, which then flares up.
Jacquier recommended adding strength training to my regimen to help build muscle and reduce body fat. I have started weekly sessions, focused on increasing my hip strength and body stability through targeted exercises. And I will restart running only after a few months of this training. While I feel stronger and lighter, it is early days and I won’t know the results until I start running again.