56-year-old mum of two Chris Naylor works for the NHS in Brighton and started running in 1985 to keep up with her run-loving family. She discovered that she was rather good at it too, and went on to run a 10K in 37mins 14, a half marathon in 1hr 22, and a marathon in 2hrs 55 - all in the year she turned 50!
Chris comes from a family of die-hard runners, including her son Tom, who works for The Brighton Marathon. She has since participated in several marathons, and offers these hot tips for novice marathon runners...
1.
My advice for first-time marathon runners who are nervous about their first race experience is to relax and enjoy the adventure. In the last fortnight, don’t do any runs other than a few easy jogs. Eat plenty of fruit and veg and drink plenty of water/soft drinks. Don’t worry about times. Take it very steady to start with – it’s much nicer to be overtaking people towards the end, especially with the crowd support.
2.
Whatever mileage people reach they should ease right down in the last two weeks before the marathon. Recovery from weeks of hard running is very important and can make or break the marathon.
3.
It’s best not to train through pain, so if something’s niggling, see a sports physio and get proper advice. If you have an injury within a few weeks of the marathon, expect it to play up on marathon day – they usually do find you out. That happened to me a couple of times and I had to walk/jog the last 10 miles, but I still really enjoyed the crowds and finishing.
4.
Don’t try and make up for it by doing too many miles close to the event. It won’t help on the day and will probably just make it harder as you will be going in to the marathon with tired legs. Just accept that you might not get the time you were hoping for. Go off slower than you planned and see what happens.
5.
It gets much harder for everyone from about 18 miles in, but few people really hit the wall. If you didn’t do any long runs in training, start the marathon too fast and don’t take in any fuel (energy drinks etc) during the race, then you are asking for trouble as your body will run out of energy and then the wall is likely to loom large for you.
6.
Don’t eat anything new for the first time in the days leading up to the marathon and don’t try energy drinks for the first time during the race, make sure you’ve tried them during training runs, as sometimes these can upset your stomach. Practice race day breakfast and running several times before the event so you know what works ok for you. I found I have to eat at least three hours before running.
7.
A good tip on not needing to pee during the race, drink as much as you want up to two hours before the race, then stop. Go to the toilet as usual, and have a few sips of a drink just before the start if you want to. This works for me.
8.
If you want to carry squeezy gels around with you, sew a small ladies sock inside your shorts. It’s much more comfy than a bum bag and very easy to reach.
9.
Enjoy the race – whether it takes three or six hours, it’s still a fantastic achievement to train for and run 26+ miles. Be proud of yourself for having the mental and physical strength to see it through.
