Jack Tregurtha

This article has evolved over the years.

An earlier version of this article is on the Rotorua Marathon website. I received enthusiastic feedback both during and after the 2001 Rotorua Marathon from people who said they had been helped, so I have expanded the original article. The essentials have not changed, I have merely polished it up a bit and added some additional comments.

WHO AM I, AND WHY SHOULD YOU TAKE ANY NOTICE OF WHAT I SAY?

I was an average runner in the 1950's and early sixties. I failed as a sprinter, so I moved on to longer and longer races, eventually running 14 marathons before retiring in 1964. My best marathon in those days was 2hr 38min which I achieved during the course of running 3hrs 25mins for the 52.7km Waipukurau to Hastings race. That was my last race for 27 years.

In 1990 I started running again, much slower, but a knee injury caused me to try race walking. I soon found that I was a far better athlete as a walker than I ever was as a runner.

Since 1993 I have set a number of NZ Veteran walking records ranging from 3km to 50km. I have also taken part in a number of 24 hour races, walking nearly 154km in 1998 at the age of 61years.

I received my first Athletics New Zealand Open Grade medal in 1995 at the age of 58 when I was second in the 50km walk behind Craig Barrett. I was a long way behind. Craig's success has not been due to any adrenalin surge caused by me breathing down his neck!

I have finished about 80 races of marathon length or more, and my times have varied from pretty good to very slow. I have had my successes, and I have certainly had my failures. I have raced when fairly well prepared, and I have raced when I was very much under prepared.

I have probably made most of the mistakes it is possible to make, and I have learned from them.

While I could go into a fair amount of detailed scientific stuff, I believe that what most people need is simply some down-to-earth sensible advice. The highly scientific stuff is fine for the elite athletes, but for most people, simple guidelines are all that is necessary.

I have over recent years helped a number of novice runners and walkers to achieve good results in a variety of races. This has included recreational walkers as well as Racewalkers.

This article sets out to provide the simple guidelines which will enable a first time marathon walker to achieve their aim, and to do it reasonably comfortably. It is not intended for advanced people, but possibly even some of them may pick up a few hints.

ASSUMPTIONS

This article assumes the following:

· You have already walked at least one half marathon.

· That you are currently in good enough shape to do another half marathon, but feel ready to tackle the next challenge.

· You have limited time to train during the week, but can manage one longish walk at some stage most weeks, probably at the weekend.

HOW MUCH TRAINING?

Four or five days a week is sufficient to achieve success. The rest days are not lost days - these are the days when your body rebuilds itself and adapts to allow you to benefit from your active days. You can do more, but beyond 5 days a week the risk of injury increases. If you do train every day, make sure that at least two of those days are light easy days.

YOUR PREVIOUS TRAINING

In order to achieve your half marathon, you will probably have had a mixture of shorter training walks and some longer walks. For most people this might have been two or three walks of 8 to 10km during the week, plus a longer walk of 15km or perhaps a little more most weekends. With some tweaking, a similar training programme will also allow you to complete a full marathon. The main difference will be that you will gradually increase the distance of your longer walk. If you can add a little distance to your other walks, that will be an advantage, but the main requirement is simply to increase the distance of your long walk.

MY SUGGESTIONS FOR A TRAINING PROGRAMME

The appropriate training programme will vary for different people according to their fitness level and the time they have available to train.

Put in the simplest possible form, I would recommend that you stick to whatever worked for you for your half marathon training, and simply increase the distance of your once-a-week Long Walk by about 3km each week. If you start with a longest walk of say 20km, you would do 23km next week and 26km the following week. This would continue with 29km, 32km and 35km etc in successive weeks. How far you take this and what distance you ultimately achieve will depend on how many weeks you have available, and how much time you can spend on your Long Walk. Most people can manage a full 42.2km marathon with only say 32km as their longest training walk, but if you can extend beyond this it will help.

If you haven't time to build up to about 36km before the race, you could add say 4 or 5km each week instead of the recommended 3km. If you do this, make sure that you go extra slowly.

The Long Walk should be done very slowly. Take the pace you can race a half marathon, and walk a good minute and a half slower per km. This is a pretty gentle pace. If you can manage to go this slowly you will find that you bounce back very quickly, and will be ready for some more energetic 10km walks during the following week.

You don't HAVE to do a Long Walk every week. You should have an easier week from time to time, and if you can't manage to include a Long Walk some weeks, you have simply chalked up one of your "Easy Weeks".

THE RACE - WHAT PACE SHOULD YOU AIM AT?

You should obviously walk a bit slower than you would in a half marathon. But how much slower?

A rule of thumb would be to double your half marathon time and add 30 - 45 minutes. Whether it is 30 minutes or 45 minutes will depend on how many really long walks you can manage before the race. My best half marathon is a little under 2 hours, and my best marathon on a flat course is about 4hr 30 minutes. Others who have best half marathon times of 2hr 30 minutes have managed about 5hr 30 minutes or perhaps a little faster for a full marathon. If your best half marathon is say 2hr 45 minutes, then expect to take about 6 hours.

Craig Barrett can walk a half marathon in a little under 1 hr 30 minutes, and has a best marathon time on a flat(ish!) course of 3hr 09 min 55sec which he achieved in the Rotorua Marathon. (He does have a slightly faster time in the New Plymouth marathon but that starts halfway up Mount Egmont and finishes down at sea level.) Craig's best time is only double his half marathon time plus 10 minutes, but Craig is a special case, and all of his training is targeted at very long distances.

Once you have calculated the time you can expect to achieve, divide this by 42.2 to get your time per kilometre. You can then use this to calculate your target times at 1km, 5km, 10km etc. Most marathons have every 5km marked, and some have every km marked. In the race try not to go any faster than your target times. You can write your target times on your hand or a piece of paper. An old race number is good for this purpose, as the special paper will not disintegrate if it gets wet.

Many people start off in a race at a much faster pace than they can maintain for the full distance. They like to get a few minutes up their sleeve. This is a bad policy. You will achieve your best possible time by going at a uniform pace. Every minute too fast in the first half will see you at least two minutes too slow in the second half. A few years ago, Belayneh Dinsamo of Ethiopia set a world record for running the marathon. His 5km splits were: 15:05; 15:00; 15:01; 15:06; 15:00; 15:01; 15:09; and 14:58. Consistency like this needs years of practice, and he obviously had a very good idea of just what pace he was capable of carrying to the finish.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RUNNING AND WALKING

Walking is much easier on the body than running. This is due to the much reduced impact every time you plant your foot down. Many runners are not great physical specimens the day after they have run a marathon, with sore joints as well as tired and stiff muscles. A walker can be in much better shape. I demonstrated this a few years ago when I walked a half marathon the day after I had walked the New Plymouth marathon. My time in the half marathon was nowhere near my best of course, but I had no trouble covering the distance. If I had run the marathon it would never have occurred to me to tackle a half marathon the very next day.

SHIN PAIN

Most new walkers complain they have shin splints. In most cases they merely have tight muscles running up the front of their shins due to the unaccustomed exercise. This is not an injury. What happens is that the muscle is encased in a tough outer membrane which does not allow the shin muscle to expand. You feel this as a pain. When I first started walking, this pain felt like a hot burning sensation as if someone was holding a lighted match to my shin. In time the outer membrane expands, and the pain goes away. I now only feel this pain if I resume training after a bit of a layoff.

You can of course develop more serious shin conditions which may require treatment or rest, but in most cases shin pain is not an injury.

INJURIES

Injuries are less frequent in walkers than runners, and mostly they are less serious. If you do injure yourself, you will experience the quandary of whether to keep training, or to take a few days rest. Certainly you should cut back on both the amount and intensity of your training. A general rule is that after a couple of days rest, if the injury becomes more painful as your exercise, you should stop and seek treatment. If the pain gradually eases as you warm up, you can generally continue with some light easy training.

BLISTERS

My first ever walking race happened to be 50km. I had trained to run the race, but this was when my knee started to object. Rest did not help, but I found that Racewalking was fine. I survived the race, but developed the most horrendous blisters. These took up about 25% of the soles of each foot, and large areas around the back of each heel. The problem was simply that by planting my foot down and then twisting my hips round my foot was moving too much inside my shoes. These shoes were fine for running, but a little too loose for racewalking.

I wasn't keen to repeat this, so the next time I walked in a long race I covered all suspect areas with elasticised sticking plaster before the race. This is straight sticking plaster without any padding. Since doing this I haven't had a single blister of any consequence, even in 24 hour races. The only warning I would give is to be careful when you put your socks on, that the plaster doesn't roll up.

ONE WEEK BEFORE THE RACE

Cut your toenails. The reason you should not cut them just before the race, is that you may expose some tender skin and increase the risk of blisters.

You may see books which recommend tapering off your training for as much as 3 weeks before a marathon. I have tried this, but it doesn't work for me. My fitness seems to have a leak in it, and if I taper over such a long period, I don't go well in the marathon, but the work I do in the marathon boosts my fitness, and by next day I feel ready to race well.

I believe that particularly when walking, there is no harm in doing a reasonable distance during the first part of the week, but this should all be at a very easy pace. If I had the time, I would generally do up to 32km on the Sunday, 20km on the Monday, 10km on Tuesday and perhaps an easy 5km on the Wednesday. I would then have a couple of rest days before racing on the Saturday.

Mostly I don't get around to doing quite this much. For most beginners I would recommend say up to 10km on the Monday, perhaps the same or a rest day on the Tuesday, and an easy 5km on the Wednesday, with a couple of rest days before racing on Saturday.

MY SPECIAL TRICK FOR THE LAST WEEK BEFORE A MARATHON

An easy 10km and an easy 5km during the week of a marathon can be an immense help. Do these on a flat course and at a very easy pace. Take particular notice of how short a distance 10km really is. Analyse how fresh you still feel when you finish. Keep reminding yourself how easy it was, and what a short distance 10km is.

Next day do the same with the 5km.

When you reach the 32km mark in the race, you will be starting to feel a little bit tired. Think back to how easy it is to walk 10km. Again at the 37km mark when you have just 5km remaining, think back to how easy that 5km was. I'm not normally into mind games, but I have found this little exercise really works.

THURSDAY NIGHT (If the Race is on Saturday)

Try to get a good night's sleep. This is probably more important than the Friday night. You may not be able to sleep so well on the night before you race, due to a strange bed, traffic, excitement, sharing a room with a stranger who snores etc. That won't matter if you have managed a good night's sleep the previous night. Many athletes have performed extremely well with little or no sleep the night before the race.

CHECKLIST

I have a checklist on my computer. Every time I race I print off a copy and tick things off as I pack them. This is a very detailed list, and for example it includes "Left Shoe" and '"Right Shoe". I haven't made that mistake myself, but there have been quite a few athletes who have turned up to a race with two left shoes. This is very easy if you have more than one pair of identical shoes.

CLOTHING

You MUST wear comfortable clothing which you have worn many times in your long training walks.

NEVER WEAR ANYTHING NEW IN A RACE.

This goes for shoes naturally, but also for every single article of clothing, even socks.

I'll put that another way: If you want to have a miserable time, with blisters, blood, chafing, more blood, pain, a bit more blood, misery and even more blood, then you should buy new shoes, socks, shorts and a top and wear them for the first time in the race. An utterly miserable time is almost guaranteed!

A marathon is not the place to make a fashion statement.

Many marathons start quite early, and the walkers often start in the dark of a frosty winter's morning. Later it can come out quite hot, and you must be able to shed your outer clothing.

Many marathon runners and walkers wear their very oldest clothes which are ready to be put out with the rubbish, and dispose of them at one of the Drinks Stops. If it is later returned that is fine, but if you never see it again, then it doesn't matter.

A useful and ornamental fashion accessory is an ordinary plastic rubbish bag. Cut a hole for your head and two holes for your arms, and you have an excellent cheap throwaway parka.

SHOES

In general terms, you don't need to spend a lot of money on shoes for walking. The so-called "Walking Shoes" available in New Zealand are really aimed at bush walking or hiking, and are not ideal for walking on the road. Racewalkers look for the lightest, most flexible shoes available, and avoid those big clunky heavy clod-hoppers which seem to be the fashion these days. Many shoes are too stiff in the sole. It has been said that the ideal racewalking shoe should be so flexible, that you should be able to fold it like a wallet and put it into your back pocket. While that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it does give you the right idea. A low heel is also desirable, and higher heels will put more stress on your shin muscles.

Due to the reduced impact when walking, you do not need shoes with a lot of cushioning. A runner compresses the cushioning material, and the shoe then has a stable platform which allows the foot to function in a normal way. The same shoe on a walker will not compress due to the reduced impact. The shoe is then free to wobble around, and this can introduce foot and ankle problems. A shoe with a lot of cushioning may feel very comfortable, but may not be the best shoe for walking long distances.

THE NIGHT BEFORE

I generally eat up pretty well during the day, and may continue nibbling on biscuits until I get to bed at say 11pm. Opinions vary about what to eat. I had a couple of cheeseburgers the night before my best ever race, and for this reason I generally stick to this formula. This is no time to start experimenting. Don't take any notice of what everyone else is eating. Stick to what you know works for you. Your mind is probably at least as important as your legs when it comes to completing a marathon. Don't give yourself something more to worry about during the race by eating a strange curry the night before.

I've never bothered with the Pasta Parties before a marathon. Just stick to your normal routine.

RACE MORNING

BREAKFAST

I like to eat no closer than 4 hours before a marathon. All I have for breakfast is 3 or 4 biscuits and a mug of tea. Again, just stick to what ever you normally have. I normally eat toast for breakfast, but a few biscuits are often easier before a race if I am travelling. Mostly I go back to bed and sleep a little until it is time to leave for the race.

That is what I do. Others can eat a larger breakfast just a couple of hours before the start. Just do whatever suits you, and don't follow anyone else's advice unless you find it works for you in your longer training walks. The main purpose of breakfast before a marathon is to get your bowels moving BEFORE the race, not DURING it.

One thing you should avoid, is having any sugar within an hour of the start. What happens is that your body says "Good, here is some spare sugar, I'll store it away." However, the body overdoes it, and you actually end up with a reduced blood sugar level. If you have any sugar, make sure it is more than an hour before the race, or at least an hour into the race.

DECIDE ON WHAT CLOTHES TO WEAR - CHECK THE WEATHER FORECAST

Cold, Wind, Rain: You can cope with these by appropriate choice of clothing. It becomes more difficult if the weather is expected to change during the race. You may have to discard surplus clothes.

Heat: Your coolest clothing is the obvious choice, but be aware of the risk of sunburn.

Cold Weather turning Hot: This is easy to cope with if you have disposable clothing, or have a support crew to offload any surplus.

Hot Weather turning Cold: This isn't quite so easy. A long sleeved sweater in a bumbag might be necessary if you don't have a support crew.

FINAL PREPARATIONS

Be very careful when you put on your racing shoes. Make sure your socks are properly in place and not folded or creased. Check that there are no small stones or grass seeds inside your shoes or socks. You can ignore these in a short race, but as you will be taking about 45,000 steps during a marathon, a very minor irritation can build up to a major problem well before the end.

Take particular care not to tie your shoe laces too tight. This is very easy to do, as you will be taking that little extra care to do everything well, and so might just overdo it.

For a half marathon I would normally do at least 1 or 2km as a warmup, but I don't do this for a marathon. One thing I make a point of doing, is to walk at least 100 metres rather faster than I would be expecting to do in the race. This will show me if I have tied my shoe laces too tight.

Always tie your shoes with a double bow or even a triple bow.

Apply Vaseline to all the places where chafing may occur. One unexpected place is the inside of the arms, level with the armhole of a singlet. If you have particular trouble with chafing, try pure lanolin. This sticks around much longer than vaseline. It can be a bit difficult to manage in cold weather, as it goes very hard, so you could make up a 50/50 mixture of vaseline and pure lanolin.

Be very careful when you are pinning your Race Number to your chest. Check that you will not catch it with your hands as you swing your arms. There is nothing worse than having a loose number flapping for most of the race. I generally use a few extra safety pins at the top and the sides of the number.

THE START

Make sure that you don't get carried away with the excitement. It is very easy to start out far too fast. There is often an adrenalin surge when the gun goes, and as a consequence the first km or so can feel impossibly easy. There will be many who set off at a suicidal pace, and initially it feels so easy to keep them company. One minute too fast in the first kilometre will probably result in an additional 10 minutes or 20 minutes at the finish. Three or four minutes too fast at the 5km mark, and you may have trouble finishing at all.

You should calculate what your target times are for 1km, 5km, 10km, 15km etc. Write them on your hand or on a piece of paper. (An old race number is ideal, as it is made from special paper which won't disintegrate if it gets wet.) Try not to go any faster than these times.

EATING AND DRINKING DURING A MARATHON

I don't eat anything during a marathon. Others take a packed lunch! A small amount of food may be a help. The slower runners and walkers seem to require more sustenance during a marathon than do the faster ones. This is probably a reflection of the longer time the slower ones are out on the course.

Bananas are one common food, and you should be aware that the firmer slightly unripe ones are the best for eating the day before a race. The riper ones are the ones to have during a race, as the starch has been converted to sugar to provide more available energy. Often race organisers provide bananas towards the end of a race, but these are generally fairly firm, and will not be much help during the race.

If you drink energy drinks, make sure that the mixture you drink during a race is about half the strength on the directions. The full strength formula is OK before or after, but during the race the more dilute mix is more easily absorbed. You will often find that the drink provided by race organisers is too strong, and many competitors take both a sports drink and some water at a Drink Station so that they can dilute it further themselves. The optimum strength is 6% to 8% carbohydrate with 500 to 700mg of sodium per litre. You will find many "sports drinks" which contain either too much carbohydrate or too little salt.

YOU NEED SALT - Drinking Plain Water can be DANGEROUS:

For many years there has been a standard recommendation to drink up large, and many have recommended plain water as being all that is required. This will certainly help with the problem of dehydration, but in some circumstances plain water can be very dangerous. The very conscientious slower walkers and runners who religiously follow the advice to drink lots of water before the race, and who fill up with plain water at every Drinks Station will certainly not die from dehydration. But they may die from low salt levels. The others who might be in danger are the elite athletes who push themselves to the limit in humid conditions. In more usual circumstances you probably won't come to any harm by drinking plain water, but it will still be advisable to drink a sports drink. which contains 500 to 700mg of sodium per litre.

A good rule is to not try anything during a marathon that you haven't tried in training. This won't necessarily avoid problems, as the extra pressure you put yourself under in a race can have a quite different effect on the body. (I have no problem eating and drinking during training runs, but in a race my stomach shuts down, and anything I eat or drink just sits in my stomach and rattles around. It doesn't do me any good, and I end up vomiting. In a longer race such as a 24 hour race, the slower pace allows me to eat and drink in moderation. My favourite in a 24 hour race is Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola. I have gone well on just 100ml of Coca Cola (NOT Diet Coke!) every half hour for the last 12 hours of a 24 hour race. I should add a little salt.)

AFTER THE RACE

If you are strong-minded, soaking your legs in cold water will help you recover. The theory is that it reduces any swelling, and aids a quick recovery. (I have read this, and I have seen it done, but being a coward I have never actually done it.)

A hot bath is not recommended, but that is what I usually have. At Rotorua most people seem to end up in a hot pool. After one 50km race in Hamilton I had been complaining of "toothache in my legs" as we drove back to Hawke's Bay. I struggled to walk Down the hill to a hot pool in Taupo. An hour in the pool saw me much happier and I had no trouble walking back up the hill back to the car.

A good firm massage will allow you to recover much quicker by expelling the waste products. This can have an amazing effect, as I discovered in the middle of a 24-hour race - my legs not only felt much better, I was actually filled up with energy again.

Some people can eat an amazing range of food after a race. Others can't stomach anything, and prefer liquid or at least sloppy foods. There have been times when I would have quite happily eaten tinned baby food - which was about the only texture I felt able to tackle.

You won't feel like walking far immediately after a hard race, but if you can force yourself to walk even half a kilometre or so a few hours later, you will find that your stiffness will ease. It can be painful starting off, but once you are under way it will quickly improve.

You might find that you feel quite jaded for some days after a marathon. The extent of this will depend on your state of fitness, and how fast you went in relation to that state of fitness. You might feel flat for some days, or even a number of weeks. One thing you should be careful about is to avoid any really hard fast work for a week or so after finishing a marathon. You might feel great, but you may also have stressed your body and developed weaknesses which could become injuries. Even if you feel great, treat yourself as if you were slightly injured for the next week or two. However, if for some reason you didn't really push yourself very hard in the race, you might find that you are full of beans next day. This has often happened to me if my training has not been all it should.

For another view on recovering after walking a marathon, this article by American guru, Dave McGovern may be useful. Recovering From a Marathon Walk. Dave has also written a book on walking marathons. I haven't seen it, but based on his previous articles and books, it will be a mass of helpful advice. DAVE McGOVERN'S BOOK ON WALKING A MARATHON

HOW CAN I GO A BIT FASTER?

ORDINARY WALKING

I'll get onto Race Walking in a moment. Ordinary walkers generally want to go a bit faster, but often their training is not geared up to making significant improvements. Most tend to walk at much the same speed every day. They also tend to walk at much the same speed throughout a workout. They reach a certain standard, but then fail to improve much beyond that. That is fine, if they are happy to operate at that level. But if you are just a little bit more competitive, you might find the following comments helpful.

• You make progress by putting your body under a stress (not too much), and then allowing your body time to recover so you come back just a little bit stronger than before. Without the stress you won't improve. Without time to recover you will also not improve.
• You can provide just a little additional stress by slightly increasing your speed for short distances during a walk. Just from one power pole to the next is fine to start with. Do this 4 or 5 times during a walk, and perhaps twice a week. Gradually increase the number of faster bursts, and/or the length of them.

RACEWALKING

Not everyone wants to walk using a full-blown Racewalking technique. But a few hints of why Racewalking is faster than ordinary walking may be a help.

• First, the speed you walk at is determined by the speed you can swing your arms. If you can swing your arms faster, your legs must follow. If you keep your arms straight, you can only swing them fairly slowly. A Racewalker keeps his arms bent with a 90 degree bend at the elbow. You will probably find this tiring at first, but try it whenever you want to increase your pace.
• The second difference between ordinary walking and Racewalking, is where you place your feet. Ordinary walkers simply place each foot directly in front so that their footprints form two parallel lines. Racewalkers tend to place each foot directly in front of the other. In order to do this, they must swing their hips, and this can add a good 10 centimetres to the length of your stride - without over-stretching, which would take up more time.

• No, Racewalking is NOT tough on your hips or your back, once your muscles have become used to the work they are doing. But if you already have a back problem it might be a different story.
• Racewalkers go faster mainly by taking more steps per minute, rather than by trying to achieve a very long stride.
• Racewalking and Power walking are in some ways direct opposites. Power walkers try to spend as much energy as possible in order to burn off all those extra calories. Racewalkers spend as little energy as possible so that they can go faster and further on the same amount of energy.
• The top Racewalkers such as Craig Barrett average about 4 minutes 30 seconds per km over an entire 50km race, but may speed up to about 4 minutes 15 seconds per km over the final 10km. At this speed, they are taking about 4 paces per second!

AN ADDED BONUS: Racewalking is probably the best exercise in the world for the waistline. Bringing each foot directly in front of the other requires you to swivel your hips, and gives the stomach muscles an excellent workout. I have stomach muscles which I never had when I was a mere runner.

If you want to follow this avenue further, you could follow this link to the New Zealand Race walking Association's website.

Another helpful site is an On-Line racewalking coaching course where you can see an animated display of racewalking technique. This site is: Racewalking 101.

SPECIFIC NOTES ON THE ROTORUA MARATHON

The Rotorua marathon is probably the best race for your first marathon.

The large number of entries means that you always have company.

You should note the following:

· The massed start can easily result in you going far too fast over the first kilometre. Take notice of the signs at the start marking your expected finishing time, so that you do not get sucked in to a very fast start. Make a conscious effort to walk at your own pace.

· You may hear that Rotorua is the toughest marathon in New Zealand. WRONG. There are others which are at least as tough or tougher. Rotorua isn't a fast course, the hills make certain of that, but these hills aren't too bad. They are mostly fairly gentle, and not too high. If you just slacken off the pace a little going up the hills, you won't have much trouble. The benefit from always having company more than makes up for the adverse effects of the hills. One advantage of the Rotorua course is that the last 10km or so is flat, so you are not having to drag your body uphill when you really are tired.

A FEW RANDOM FINAL THOUGHTS

· Your body is capable of much more than you think it is. (Your head is at least as important as your legs in any endurance race.)

· You can achieve much more in a race than you could ever achieve in training.

· If you find that you have gone too fast, don't despair. Just ease up and go slower for a while. You can recover and you can get to the finish. Afterwards you will feel much better if you finish, even with a slow time, than if you pull out and have to put up with hearing everyone else bragging about how ell they did.

· Unless you have a serious injury or health problem, try very hard to never pull out of a marathon. This can easily become a habit. Most people go through a bad patch at some part of a longer race, but mostly you can work through these and finish the race.

· In the big marathons such as Rotorua, you can think of them as only being 40km long not the actual 42.2km. The reason is that the crowd support over the final stages will make the last bit very easy. The last 2km looks after itself!

· Be very careful with suncream. Certainly use it, but be careful on your forehead. If the weather gets very hot, a flush of sweat can cause the suncream to be flushed out of your skin and into your eyes. Once it gets into your eyes you will be in for a very miserable time. I don't put any suncream on my forehead for that reason. A good hat takes care of that.

· The secret of success and recording your best possible time, is to walk at a uniform pace. On a hilly course this needs to be amended to walking at a uniform effort level - don't try to keep the same pace going uphill.

· You can probably achieve more by training slowly than you could if you trained harder. You will recover much quicker, and be ready for the next session. Hard training will simply mean that you are always tired and stiff.

· If you miss some of your training, DON'T PANIC. Don't think that you can make up for what you missed by training more, or by training harder. You will be much better off by simply going out for a slightly longer walk than normal, but do it very very slowly. Time on your feet is more important than the speed you go at.

· You should try to fit in an easier week from time to time. I seldom actually plan these. What normally happens is that if for one reason or another I miss a bit of training. I do not panic and struggle to catch up. I simply tell myself "That was my easy week."

· You should try to alternate a hard day with a rest day or an easier day. Similarly a long walk with a shorter walk.

CHECKLIST Amend this to suit yourself