Looking to run a faster marathon time?

Know your “why”
 Know why you run, why you race and why you are wanting to achieve your goals. Your body and mind go hand in hand when setting your goals.
 

Make sure you have two long(ish) runs into your weekly programme
 This means including 2 x 2-hour runs or 25km, whichever comes first. This will aid endurance and grit, both qualities you’ll be looking for when running your marathon. You can also add a shorter quality set in the middle of one of these runs to remind your tired legs what it will feel like when racing.
 

Look at changing true “speed work”
 The bulk of your marathon training should include longer runs with some planned marathon pace. Speedwork in your marathon training involves a cost-benefit analysis. Beware of pushing too hard by running too fast on these longer runs as it increases your chances of injury (and proper recovery). Be conservative when adding speed. Shift your thinking around speed work and rather add strides into your easy runs. These are short bouts of running 1 - 3km of race pace somewhere in your easier runs. This will aid in running the economy and form and give your body time to recover.
 

Add weekly mileage conservatively
 Make sure your build-up is gradual. Elite athletes run many kilometres because racing performance improves with increased aerobic capacity and mileage. However, being injury-free is more important - listening to your body when it needs to rest and recover is absolutely essential.
 

Have a specific plan with your training and then be flexible for life and changes
 The general rule is adding two quality runs a week. This will depend on where your body and mind are at, your age, injury history, lifestyle, time and your running background. Giving yourself at least one to two days between these sets is important.
 

Make your easy runs easy and your hard runs hard
 Your easy runs should be so easy that you are ready to fire on the hard run days. Recovery between these runs makes all the difference too.
 

Be intentional in your B and C race choices
 Be careful of taking time away from valuable training time (even if your taper is short for races). You still have to recover from the hard effort, and there is always a risk of injury! Unless your other races are there to build up to your A race or it is there simply for an easy run set, or to get used to the specific racing terrain etc - be wise in your race choice building up to your main A race.
 

Assimilate your race terrain in training
 Although it’s important to run on different surfaces, on different routes and in different weather and the likes, assimilating what you will be racing on will give you the best advantage for race day.
 

Invest in Pilates and strength training
 Everyone’s running can benefit from a strong core, good functional alignment and good foot/knee and hip biomechanics. Pilates will work on your stabilisers and mobility. Also, invest some time cross-training at the gym or another form of exercise such as cycling, swimming, hiking etc. Preferably choose something that is non-weight bearing. This is a super way to increase your endurance and overall global strength.
 

Invest in rest
 Make rest a priority! Fitness gains and adaptations only happen when you give yourself time to recover from the high running impact. Your muscles need time to grow back stronger - help them by investing in massage, using a roller, and or bathing with Epsom Salts. If you can, choose Pilates on your rest days. It takes about two weeks for the body to realise fitness gains. This is the reason why marathon taper plans typically start 14 to 21 days out from your last hard running effort.