The Ironman Run

Remember, The Run Is Determined By Your Choices So Far!

All of the choices you’ve made during the day are about to come into play. If you’ve made good choices, thinking about this part of the race the whole time, then you have a good chance of pulling off a good run. If you have been a little reckless on the swim or the bike, then you may be in for a long marathon.

When I say reckless, I’m talking about pacing – have you gone into the red for long periods of the race? I’m talking about nutrition – have you eaten regularly and frequently? I’m talking hydration – have you been drinking enough? How you answer those questions will determine the next few hours of your life.

Breaking It Down

Assuming you’ve paced the bike well, are well-fuelled and hydrated, how are you going to tackle the Ironman run? 42.2k or 26.2 miles is long way and is a bit daunting isn’t it? Perhaps break the course up into sections.

Most run courses are laps. Often 4 x 10k (plus a bit). You might want to think about running a 10k four times, rather than 42k. Get through each lap. Mentally, it’s easier to think “2 laps done, 2 laps to go”.

10k laps are still a long way, and difficult to think about when you are running on reserves. Perhaps think about running the Ironman marathon one aid station at a time. This way, you are running for 10- 15 minutes at a time, before being rewarded with a drink, some nutrition and some friendly faces. Don’t think any further than the next aid station. This helps you stay in the moment, rather than let your mind wander too far ahead.

Use Walking Strategically

Unless you are at the very elite end of the field, you are not going to run the whole Ironman marathon. As much as you think you won’t, you will definitely walk at some point.

My strong advice is to have a plan for that walking. Don’t be the athlete who says “I’m going to run as far as I can and then run-walk”. It’s too late then. You will be suffering, and those walk breaks will get longer and longer, and slower and slower.

I would urge you to think about a run-walk strategy which begins as soon as you start the run. There are many ways to do this.

You could run for nine minutes and walk for one minute.
You could run between the aid stations and then walk through them.
You could decide to walk all of the hills, and run the rest.

Don’t think a run-walk strategy is ‘settling’ for a slow run. Done well, you can run-walk your way to a really fast Ironman marathon. I have run a 3.29 and a 3.37 using this strategy. I’m sure others have too.

Whatever strategy you adopt, do it from the start, whilst you are “fresh” and the chances of keeping this going until the end is good. (Even then, you might have to adapt as you go, changing from 9/1 to 8/2 to 5/1).

Start Of The Run

Usually, you come out of transition and you see many, many athletes running at 5 minute kilometre pace (8 minute miles) or faster. That’s 3.30 marathon pace. Look at the results afterwards, and you won’t see many athletes anywhere near that run time. In other words, athletes are starting the run much too fast and setting themselves up for failure.

My advice would be to start the run deliberately slow. If you have a target time of 4 hours for your marathon, that’s about 5.40 min/k pace. For the first 1-2k, run slower than target pace, perhaps 6 min/k pace. Use this time to get your heart rate under control, feel relaxed and find your run rhythm.

I need to warn you that this is really hard to do. You finish the bike, charge through transition, legs are often feeling quite good, turning over well, and before you know it you look down at your watch and you are running at 10k pace! It feels really hard to slow down. Make the effort. It’s well worth it!

You might want to find a runner who you could easily overtake. Instead of overtaking, sit in behind them for five minutes. This will force you to slow down.

‘Getting Dressed’ On The Run

Also, depending on your transition strategy, it may be a time to do some ‘admin’. In many races, rather than do everything you need to in transition, put bits of kit in a small ziplock / plastic bag, grab it and go. This could be your Garmin, sunglasses, hat, gels, suncream, whatever. Don’t spend time in transition getting dressed, do it on the run whilst you are running slowly.

Run Pace

Be realistic with your target run pace. As I highlighted above, the percentage of people aiming for 3.30 marathons and the percentage of people actually achieving that is really small. Keep in mind that a well-executed marathon will usually be 20-30 minutes slower than your actual standalone marathon time. That’s if everything goes really well. So, if you can run a 3.30 marathon, and your training has gone well, you are aiming for around 4 hours. Pace accordingly!

Eat!

It’s quite easy to eat on the bike. Eating whilst running is a different matter. For one, you have 6 to 8 hours of gels inside you already, and you really can’t face any more. Two, you are bouncing along and it’s difficult to stomach food. Even though the temptation is to stop eating, I would urge you to continue eating. Gels, shotblocks, energy bars, even an emergency snickers bar (my favourite race nutrition on the run!). Coke and energy drinks are good too – but some nutrition really makes a difference.

Inside Your Head

It is going to get tough on the run. You will want to slow down. You will want to walk a lot. You may question your life choices. You will have a voice in your head trying to undermine you. Remember, though, you don’t have to follow the advice of the voice in your head.

Let me tell you, there is no better feeling than defying the voice in your head. Not giving in and taking the race on is liberating.

If (when) you have these negative voices, think why. Often, negative feelings creep in when nutrition is low. Think ‘grumpy toddler who needs feeding’.

As you run, you should check in with yourself regularly. A mental checklist. How is my form? Am I running tall? Is my cadence good or am I shuffling? How is my face? Am I smiling or am I grimacing? Have I eaten recently? Do I need a drink? Am I too hot? What can I do right now to improve the situation?

Too Slow

If you think my advice is too conservative, urging you to slow down all of the time, then you may find yourself in the race with loads of energy (lucky you!). The last 8 or 10 miles of the race is the chance to be a superhero.

If there is a time to overtake people in the race, the last 8 miles is the place to do it! There is no better feeling than actually feeling good in an Ironman marathon and flying past people in the latter stages of the run.

The last eight miles, if running really well, may take 1.00 to 1.10. Eight miles, if mostly tired walking with a little jogging, will take two to two and half hours. You definitely want to be the person flying! (I’ve been in both positions – and I know which one I preferred!)

Much More

There are probably lots of other things I could cover. Special Needs Bags. Dark patches in the 3rd 10k loop. Staying cool. Keeping spirits high. Staying in the moment. Goal A, Goal B & Goal C. Emotions. Finding out a lot about yourself. Finish lines. Maybe these are for another post.

In Summary …

Pace well. Eat well. Drink well. And the glory is yours!

The Ironman Run