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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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But if you're a
first-time marathoner,

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your goal should be to
complete the 26.2 mile.

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Time is not a factor for you.

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It's just completing the
distance and going the distance

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and getting that medal around
your neck at the finish line.

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And I think that's goal enough.

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And some of you may be
run-walking the marathon.

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Some of you may be wanting
to run the entire distance.

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And that's up to you as
a first-time marathoner.

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I'm assuming you as a
first-time marathoner

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have put in some miles to
get you to the starting line.

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So I'm hoping that you've run
at least 15 miles in training.

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A lot of people say 17
miles is the distance

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you need to have in
your bank account

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in order to really
feel good about getting

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to the starting line.

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And it's funny that
a lot of people

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say it's a 17-mile run
that'll nail the marathon

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distance for you.

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And that's the distance
in the marathon

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that I want to be feeling good
at is the 17-point mile mark.

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So it's interesting
how that works out.

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But you don't want to
head to a starting line

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in a marathon as a
first-time marathoner

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not looking for a
positive experience.

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You want to feel good
about what you have done

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to prepare for the marathon.

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And that's going to help you
both mentally and physically

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to complete your
goal of 26.2 miles.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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When it comes to
preparing for a marathon,

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I look at the target
date of the marathon,

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the day on which the
marathon is going to occur,

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and then I count backwards
for three months.

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And that's when I really
start my marathon training

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in earnest.

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At that point, I hit three
important workouts each

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and every week--

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a long 20-mile run,
an intermediate run

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which is anything
between 12 and 15 miles,

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and then I do some
sort of a speed

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workout or an interval
workout or maybe even a race.

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So during the
height of my career,

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I was running around 100 miles
a week, anywhere between 90

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and maybe a little over
100 but not well over 100.

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And a lot of elite
marathon runners

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today run upwards of 100 miles.

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But for me, I never wanted to
leave my race on the roads.

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I wanted to save it
for the actual race.

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And so 100 miles was pretty much
the max I would run per week.

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And I filled in the
workouts outside the speed

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work, the medium-long
run, and the long run

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with miles between 10K
and-- and 10 miles.

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And I tried to stay away from
what I call garbage miles just

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to up my mileage for
that particular week

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because I just felt they wore
me down and might lead me

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to leaving my race on the roads.

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Now, for first-time marathoners,
instead of having time goals,

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their big pie-in-the-sky goal
might be to just get from

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the starting line
to the finish line,

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and that's all their
initial goal should be.

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You just want to feel
good and positive

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about your training that
gives you the go-ahead

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to get to the starting line.

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Because you want to
make the first marathon

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a positive experience
if you're going

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to stay in this sport
for a period of time.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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One part of marathon training
that people often don't

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think about or don't
consider important

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is the paper portion of
marathon preparation.

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And that's the period of
time, usually the last two

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weeks to 10 days, before
the actual marathon

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when runners should be letting
go of their hard-core training

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and relaxing and just
focusing on the event itself,

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the mental portion
of the event itself.

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And so in the last two
weeks, my last long run

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is usually done 10 days
before the actual marathon,

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and then I'll usually do
something like 10 to 15 miles

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a week out, and
then anything I do

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in the final week of the
tapering is less than 10 miles.

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The hardest part of marathon
training for me is the taper.

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And you just-- as a runner,
you don't want to let go.

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You don't want to
give yourself rest.

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And it can be lost
in the tapering.

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The marathon performance that
you're wanting or desiring

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can be lost if you don't
taper appropriately,

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and I still struggle
with the tapering period.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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So I think the biggest
mistake runners

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make while fueling
themselves before a big race

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is either to
overeat or undereat,

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and that's going to look
different for every runner

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out there.

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The most important
thing for runners when

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fueling for a big event like
a highly competitive 10K, 15K,

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half marathon, but
especially the marathon

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is to not introduce new foods
right before the marathon.

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Whatever you're eating in the
days leading up to the marathon

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make sure are tried
and true and tested

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and that you can
tolerate whatever food

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it is and digest that food
appropriately and efficiently.

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You know, when I'm running
a marathon, I'm, again,

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old school, and I'll--

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I'll safety pin a little
baggie inside my shorts.

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And I'll put in
whatever it is I think I

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might need while I'm out there.

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And sometimes, the baggy
is not touched at all,

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and sometimes it is.

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And it's usually an energy
product of-- of some sort.

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My advice and strong
advice to new marathoners

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especially is to not
test the food on the run,

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and that goes for any equipment
associated with actually

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running the event.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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You need to prepare yourself for
what a major marathon starting

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line looks like.

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It's a sea of people.

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It's a three to
nine-circle circus.

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There's lots of stimulation.

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There's lots of music.

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There's lots of chatter.

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There's lots of
hullabaloo going on.

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It's just-- it's just crazy.

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And so here you are
preparing yourself mentally,

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resting up, trying to
conserve your energy,

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and then all of a sudden, the
whole world in front of you

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is lit up with unbelievable
energy and colors.

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And it's magnificent, but you
need to sort of get in the zone

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and get inside yourself
and try to keep yourself

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as calm as you possibly can.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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The experience for the
marathon when the gun goes off,

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especially for first-time
or beginner marathoners,

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is to wait.

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You hear the gun,
and then you wait.

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And sometimes,
runners are called

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to the starting line
at different times

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because they have waves
taking off at different times.

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And sometimes, it's en
masse, and everybody goes.

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You just wait until
you start to move.

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And it's really hard to move
through a pack of marathoners

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if you're at the
back of the pack.

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So again, patience comes into
play, and what you try to do

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is find your path
through a sea of people.

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The elite marathoners
are off and running.

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They don't have runners
in front of them.

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They don't have runners
to slow them down.

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But the beginning marathoners,
the first-time marathoners,

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are usually placed at
the back of the pack.

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It's an honor system.

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They'll have corrals
with expected times

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or pace per mile.

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Usually, they have
pacesetters, people

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who carry colorful orange
flags or yellow flags saying,

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I am running at this pace.

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If this is the pace you
want to run, follow me.

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And people glom onto
those pacesetters

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because they have a time in
mind that they want to run.

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And this person, if he or
she is a good pacesetter,

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will keep you on pace.

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And it's amazing how close
these pacesetters come

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to running that actual pace.

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Sometimes, you want to be
in that group of people.

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Sometimes, you'll find that
they're zapping your energy,

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and you need to
find your own space.

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But for beginner marathoners
in a big, major marathon,

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it's really hard to
find that sacred space

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because there are
a lot of people

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out there with similar
ambitions and similar goals,

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and they're going
to be by your side.

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Well, I think the biggest
mistake a new marathoner can

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make is to write all their
expected splits, meaning

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the time that's
going to take them

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to run each mile or each
kilometer, on their arms.

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And they're constantly
checking their arms

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to see if they're on pace.

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And what many of these early,
new marathoners forget about

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is the fact that they may be
standing around for a while

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during the first several
minutes of the marathon.

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So that throws them out of
whack for all the remaining

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splits on their arm.

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So I tell people,
forget the splits.

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Run how you feel.

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Run as best you can
navigating the sea of people

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who are out there with you.

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Pay no attention to the time.

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Do the best you can.

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And remember, you know, to
think about the marathon

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distance in different
chunks of distance.

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Don't think about 26.2
miles in one package.

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It's too overwhelming,
especially

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for the early marathoners.

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But I tell beginning
marathoners and even seasoned

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marathoners that it's
best to be passing runners

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at the end of the race than it
is to have runners passing you.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]