Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Marathon de Paris #3 :
Tapering
Summary
Training
Pre-marathon tapering is a serious business! .............................................................................................................................. 5
Are you mentally ready to run 42.195 km ? ................................................................................................................................. 6
Competition
Six key points about the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon .................................................................................................... 8
Two mistakes which can make all the difference! ........................................................................................................................ 9
How to choose a pacemaker ......................................................................................................................................................... 10
Make your race mean something ................................................................................................................................................. 12
Nutrition
Diet and nutrition the week before a marathon ......................................................................................................................... 14
The limits of the Scandinavian dissociated diet before a marathon........................................................................................ 15
Hydration: why it is important to drink from the first refreshment stand onwards ............................................................ 16
Health
A few important tips before starting the marathon ................................................................................................................... 18
Make sure you rest before a marathon! ...................................................................................................................................... 19
Community
Eco-responsibility: a matter which concerns everyone! ........................................................................................................... 21
First of all, finish! ........................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Security
Risk-free running in a race pack .................................................................................................................................................. 24
Recovery
Take time to recover after a marathon ........................................................................................................................................ 26
Training
Competition
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Sometimes your legs are in better shape than you thought and the pacemaker's pace seems a bit sluggish.
Should you accelerate? Yes, you can', admits Dominique Chauvelier. But be careful not to do it too early.
We often see runners setting off before the 30th kilometre and have to pick up the pieces later. I think you
should stick to the pacemaker for the first 35 kilometres. Seven kilometres is still a long way. When it
comes down to it, pacemakers are the ideal metronomes. They can often provide valuable lessons in
managing effort to less experienced runners. The best advice is generally to follow their rhythm...
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Nutrition
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Hydration: why it is important to drink from the first refreshment stand onwards
Gilbert Prs, a sports doctor at the CHU of the Piti-Salptrire (Paris), explains why it is
important to drink right from the start of an endurance race.
During a mechanical effort such as running, the body produces heat. Excess heat is mainly eliminated in the
form of sweat on the surface of the body. This water is drawn from the blood, the liquid which is between
the cells and from the cells themselves. Dehydration is greater the higher the external
temperature: exchanges between the skin's surface and the environment are thus lower.
During dehydration, there is a simultaneous reduction in VO2 max, or maximum oxygen
consumption: which is reflected in a relatively higher work output and over consumption of glycogen.
Reserves of this super-fuel, which is stored in the liver and the muscles, are limited and there is a risk of
running out of energy. This is what is known in marathon terms as the wall. Remember that the body
turns to lipid channels when its stores of sugar are exhausted. But these channels are much less effective:
the risk of counter performance is therefore greatly increased!
Clearly, dehydration should be avoided as much as possible. Bear in mind: when you begin
dehydrating, the process of emptying the stomach slows down and pressure inside the
intestine reduces. Consequently, the body, despite its need, rehydrates more slowly.
It is important to hydrate as soon as you begin to sweat. If it is hot, sweat will be produced very early on. It
is important to drink at an early stage. When it is cold, thermal exchanges with the surrounding air
can be significant, and you therefore sweat less. It is possible in this case to drink less.
Drinking from the first refreshment stand onwards enables to you prevent dehydration following the
production of sweat generated by exercise. You can sweat as much as two litres per hour. Gastric emptying
on the other hand, (i.e. evacuation of the alimentary bolus: solids and liquids) rarely goes beyond 1.5 litres
per hour. Drinking early means your body is constantly supplied with water during effort.
Especially if the effort, as in the case of a marathon, takes place over several hours.
Drinking lots, sometimes excessively, to compensate for dehydration can have negative consequences: a
significant amount of water remains in the stomach. This leads to an unpleasant feeling of bloating. It is
recommended to drink at each refreshment stop from the first one installed by the organisers onwards, and
in moderate quantities. Remember, to conclude that not all runners are affected by dehydration in
the same way. Some tolerate it better than others. One thing is sure: no-one ever produces a great
performance when it is really hot.
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Health
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The days leading up to a major event such as the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon should
help you prepare as best possible for the coming effort. Sleep (lots of it), training (a little)
and nutrition: it all makes sense
> Save your energy!
The increase in kilometres over the four to six weeks leading up to the big day, with long training sessions
lasting over two hours, will have left its mark. Even if you don't feel particularly tired on in pain,
your body has been under an unusual amount of stress. It is important to rest in the lead up to the
event to allow your muscle fibres and tendons to recover.
Its logical, therefore, to significantly reduce the length and frequency of your training session, particularly
during the last week. It is generally said that the tapering period - two weeks before a marathon - should be
accompanied by a reduction of around 50% in the kilometres you run (while keeping the same pace
as during the preparatory phase).
> No reason to change your habits
Feeling nervous before a race is sometimes down to changes in your behaviour. Without knowing why,
runners prepare for a marathon either by starving themselves or by stuffing themselves (sometimes both
during the same week), changing their natural habits and turning their day-to-day routine on its head.
The days before a marathon should focus on rest. Nothing more. The body likes stability. Don't
disrupt it. In practical terms, stick to the basics and don't change anything about your routine - especially if
participating in the marathon doesn't involve a long journey or different time zone.
> Don't feel guilty
The weeks and months of training have left their mark. Whether you like it or not, your body has got
used to a certain amount of discipline, developed over increasingly long and sustained effort.
Running less - even if it's for a good cause - might be difficult...
Two things to bear in mind:
. You will lost none of what you have achieved by reducing your training load for a few days. None of it!
There's no point in panicking and thinking that the kilometres you run in the last week will have any impact
on the quality of the performance you will put in, or your ability to satisfactorily rise to the challenge of
running 42.195km.
. You need to listen to your body and 'indulge' it in a bit of movement if it needs it. But remember, in the last
few days it is better to do short, rhythmic sessions rather than long runs at endurance pace.
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Community
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Another option is to keep the empty tubes until you get to the finish line. If they are tucked away (in a
pocket or belt) before you take them, you can always put them back afterwards. Remember that these
tubes aren't biodegradable. And there are thousands of objects thrown onto the road which generally
need to be cleared up after the race.
> Learn how to aim for the bins!
Drinking is important. Crucial, in fact! A few mouthfuls every five kilometres is generally enough, but it's
possible to drink more (rarely less) depending on the weather conditions and your running ability.
If you were to look back at a race route taken by several tens of thousands of runners you would soon realise
the quantity of plastic bottles or cups left behind and the problems this causes.
Does it have to be like this? Of course not. There are many bins at the refreshment stations.
Everything has been done to make it possible to throw empty containers away without wasting time or
effort. Watch out for the caps: for bottles to be recycled, these have to be removed. This is why the
volunteers
generally
remove
them
before
handing
them
out.
Keep these common sense rules in mind they demonstrate your respect for the volunteers and the local
people living along the race route. It takes a considerable amount of work to get the public roads
back to their original condition after a race. Of course, that too can be avoided...
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Security
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Recovery
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