You Did It! You are a marathoner! It was hard, it was exciting, it may even have been grueling, but you did it. After a few days spent rejoicing, sharing your experience, showing off your medal, and impressing your coworkers, you may be thinking, “What’s next?”
Okay, so maybe you will deal first with your sore muscles (in my case my toes were so sore I could hardly walk), blisters, and chafing, but if you are like most people, you will eventually decide to run your second marathon.
7 Tips for an Awesome Second Marathon
For many, the goal for the first marathon is simple. Just finish. But when you make that commitment to a second one, most people will want to finish faster.
To run your second marathon faster, you will need to make some changes to your training plan. Here are seven tips for getting to the finish line of your second 26.2 faster than your first.
- Wait. Yes, you read that right. In your excitement to start training for number two, you may feel like you want to get going right away. Don’t do that. Give yourself and your body a few weeks to recover from your race.
- Pick Your Race. Choose a race about five or six months out. Consider the size, geography, and location of your race carefully. If your goal is to run faster, a smaller, flatter race with cool temperatures is your best bet. This may not be the time to run in a race that encourages you to stop and pose with cartoon characters or princesses. Just sayin’.
- Add Some Speed. While your first marathon was probably all about increasing your mileage, you will need to add some speed work if you want to finish faster. There are two types of speed work that I would recommend: Tempo (lactate threshold) runs and Interval runs. Tempo runs are longer, steady-state runs, from two-five miles, done at about your half marathon pace. Interval workouts are typically done on a track and are shorter, generally 800-1600 meters for marathon training, at about your 10k pace, with a short rest between intervals. Marathon pace runs are also great workouts that will increase your stamina and teach your body what your goal race pace feels like.
- Add More Mileage. To run a faster marathon, you will probably need to train more than you did for the first. And that means more mileage. Add mileage gradually to avoid injury. You can add mileage by adding an extra training day and by increasing the distance of your individual runs. Don’t do both things in one week. Add an extra day first, then you can work on increasing the daily mileage.
- Take a Break. Take a cutback week every third or fourth week. Cut back on your mileage by about 20%, giving your body an opportunity to rest, which is vital to getting stronger and avoiding injury.
- Get Personal. This is a good time to skip the cookie-cutter training programs and design your own plan (or hire a coach to do it for you). If you create your own plan, be sure to keep a few things in mind. Depending on your running experience, your training plan should be from 16-24 weeks long. You should start with a base-building period, where your focus is on increasing your mileage. Follow that with a period of higher intensity, where you will include your speed training workouts. Don’t forget to schedule your taper period, from two to three weeks out from your goal race, where you will gradually decrease your training volume.
- Take Care of Your Body. Strength training workouts, yoga, stretching, and foam rolling can help you run a faster second marathon by keeping you strong, flexible, and injury-free. Pay attention to how you feel and don’t ignore a small injury or it may become the thing that keeps you from achieving your goal.
If you follow these tips, I can almost guarantee that all other things being equal, you will run a faster second marathon.
Here is a post I wrote about running a faster marathon and here you will find a few of my favorite speed workouts.
Need more individualized help? I can create a personalized training program that is designed to get you to the finish line faster. I am both an RRCA and USATF certified coach. Click here or the tab at the top of the page.
Are you ready for your second marathon? Do you want to get faster (whether it’s your second or your tenth)? Do you have any tips to add?
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My second marathon was a huge improvement from my first! Part of it was finding how much mileage worked for me. I did more 18-20 mile long runs, which made a huge difference.
It’s such a learning process! And finding out what works best for our own selves is so important.
I ran a whopping 1 hour 10 minute faster 2d marathon! I got on top of my nerves and hired a coach. Lots of lessons to be learned from that first one!
Wow! That’s quite a second marathon. That first one teaches us so much, doesn’t it?
My second marathon got me a 7-second PR…on a hillier course. It’s crazy my first two marathons had almost identical finish times LOL I think with each marathon (or any long-distance endeavor) we learn new things that work. I have also gotten more flexible and have tailored each training cycle to my current state of fitness (adding more speed work, etc.). It’s a fun journey!
It is a fun journey. I’m still learning things after 38 marathons. Or re-learning them since I took a few years off there. 🙂
My second marathon was actually my slowest one ever (I think I over trained). I’ve done 4 marathons and I’m still trying to figure out what works best for me, lol.
It took me quite a few marathons before I got it down. I dealt with severe nausea and exercise-induced asthma, so my times fluctuated dramatically. They still do, lol!
I have not run a full marathon myself but from what I have seen in our group, it looks like many people don’t take enough rest after the first one. Great tips! Thanks for the link up
You’re right, many people don’t take enough recovery time. Of course, they do that at shorter distances too.
First I’d have to run a marathon, LOL! Someday, maybe, right now is definitely not the right time for me.
I do love that you tell people to wait. To truly recover. It’s SO important!
Great post. I ran my first in March, now waiting until after the Dude is born and then will reassess when/if I have the time to train properly. My goal is to find a flat race and add in more speed work and I think I can knock anywhere from 20-30 minutes off my time.