Mastering the 2025 TCS London Marathon

Sunday 27th April 2025

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Your Ultimate Guide to Preparing for the 2025 London Marathon

Congratulations on securing your spot in the 2025 TCS London Marathon! This iconic race takes you through the heart of one of the world's most vibrant cities, offering a unique experience whether you're a seasoned marathoner or tackling your first 26.2 miles. Achieving your best performance requires more than just determination; it involves strategic planning, physical conditioning, and mental resilience.

At Loughborough Sport Performance Services, we know what it takes to succeed in this monumental challenge. Our expert support is designed to optimize your preparation and ensure you confidently reach the finish line.

Ready to start your journey? Explore our Support Services at Loughborough Sport to get personalised assistance and expert advice for every step of your marathon training.

    Strength Training

    Strength training offers numerous benefits for marathon runners, improving both performance and overall health. Scientific research highlights several key advantages:

    Improved Running Economy: Resistance training, especially exercises targeting the lower body, enhances muscle strength and power, leading to better running efficiency. This means runners can maintain a faster pace with less energy.

    Injury Prevention: Strengthening muscles, tendons, and ligaments through resistance exercise helps reduce the risk of common running injuries, such as shin splints, stress fractures, and knee pain. A stronger musculoskeletal system provides better support and stability, allowing runners to handle the repetitive stress of long-distance running.

    Enhanced Muscular Endurance: Regular resistance training increases muscular endurance, enabling runners to sustain prolonged physical activity without fatigue. High-repetition sets with moderate weights, for instance, train muscles to work more efficiently over extended periods.

    Increased Maximal Strength: Developing maximal strength, particularly in the core and lower body, enhances overall athletic performance. Stronger muscles generate greater force, contributing to improved stride length and frequency, which are critical for marathon running.

    Better Body Composition: Resistance exercise helps optimize body composition by increasing lean muscle mass and reducing body fat. A higher muscle-to-fat ratio contributes to a more efficient metabolism and improved energy utilization during long runs.

    Physiology

    Physiology Testing would provide you with information about which of the key physiological determinants of the marathon you need to work on.  A coach can use this information to better guide your training and training zones, or you can use this to help make a generic plan more specific to you. 

    VO2max 

    VO2max is a term for the maximum volume of oxygen that you can take up and use in one minute, the point when this occurs will be at an extremely high intensity. You may not feel that this is applicable to marathon performance the intensity / pace you will run at will be far below your VO2max. However, we can use VO2max to assess the ceiling of your aerobic capabilities. Having a higher VO2max will enhance your aerobic capacity, making all paces below, including your marathon pace, easier to sustain.  

    The winter months give you the opportunity to raise this ceiling so that when you begin your marathon training plan you have more scope to build marathon-specific fitness. VO2max is generally improved by increasing frequency and duration of your running as well as some targeted interval sessions, such intervals will be relatively short (<5 minutes) but at a near-maximal intensity and with minimal recovery.  

    Pacing

    You will be running at a range of paces during training and eventually in the race itself. The majority of your training sessions will be at a relatively easy intensity, what is most commonly termed as “Zone 2”, to accumulate mileage throughout your week. There should be specific sessions where you run at increased intensities that become more and more specific to the marathon as you get closer to the event. Such specificity will be implemented by making intervals closer to your intended “race pace” and increasing the length of these intervals. The nature of the London Marathon course being relatively flat, ~75m elevation gain, should enable you to maintain a consistent pace with similar effort, making training at such effort even more important.  

    Although improving your running speed is important, it is also crucial to ensure that you are able to sustain your pace for the entirety of the marathon. This is achieved as previously said by increasing total mileage but also by introducing a “long run” into your training regime. The duration of the “long run” is completely determined by your previous running history. It should be significantly longer than a typical easy run and should gradually increase week-to-week, reaching a maximum of ~35km. For example, if you predominantly run for 30 minutes at a time then this “long run” could begin at 45 minutes. It is advised not to run a full marathon in training beforehand as running such a distance induces excessive fatigue that would result in an inability to train with quality for several days following.  

    Running Economy

    Running economy is a term used to describe the amount of oxygen our bodies use when we run at a given intensity or speed.  It is essentially how efficient a runner is, therefore improving running economy will lower the oxygen cost associated with a given intensity. This is especially important for you as a marathon runner because the advantage of better efficiency 'accumulates' in these longer events and the reliance on aerobic as opposed to anaerobic systems. Improving running economy involves running consistently and introducing some running-specific strength training, hill sprints, or plyometric exercises like jump squats and bounding. 

    Here at Loughborough University we have state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to carry out physiology testing. Within a session we will be able to assess your: 

    • VO2max2
    • Key sub-maximal thresholds using blood lactate measurement (an indicator of fatigue)
    • Running economy across the full spectrum of running paces
    • A personalised training zone table that can be used to ensure training is specific and thus elicits optimal results.
    • Identification of potential limiters to performance and consequent training advice to improve these  

     

    Nutrition Strategies

    Whether you’re a seasoned runner or a first-timer, these nutrition basics will help you conquer the 26.2-mile challenge with confidence.

    Carbohydrates (carbs) are your primary energy source during training. They fuel your muscles and keep you going mile after mile. Don’t underestimate their importance!

    • Match Carbs to Workload: As your training volume and intensity increase, adjust your carbohydrate intake accordingly. Aim for complex carbs like whole grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables.
    • Pre-Run Fuel: Consume a carb-rich meal 1-2 hours before your training runs. Opt for oatmeal, whole-grain toast, or a banana.

    Protein is essential for muscle recovery and adaptation. After a run, your muscles need to repair, include protein-rich foods in your post-training meals. Don’t forget about the times between training, having a regular protein intake can help repair and adaptation – aim to consume protein every 3-4 hours most days.

    Dehydration can sabotage your performance. Understand your fluid needs based on temperature, humidity, and training duration. Start hydrating the day before the race. Sip water throughout the day to ensure you’re well-hydrated.

    Practice Makes Perfect – it’s vital to practise Race-Day Nutrition strategies. Test your nutrition strategy during long training runs. What foods sit well with you? What timing works? Everyone is different, so find your sweet spot.

    Performance Lifestyle

    There are several everyday lifestyle things you can do to support maximising your performance:

    1. Planning: Are you a planner or a fly by the seat of your pants type person? Having a plan can help you work through how you’re going to fit everything in leading up to the big race. 

    #1 top tip to get started is with a weekly planning template where you can add in all your non-negotiables. Think work, study, training, eating, sleeping, time with family and friends.

    #2 top tip is to have a race day plan. For some this might just mean what pace do you want to go at but for others, maybe first timers what is your full day plan? What time do you need to be at the start line? How are you going to get there? What will you eat for breakfast and for fuelling throughout the race? Thinking about these things ahead of time allows you to create a plan and reduce last minute stressors.

    2. Sleep: Don’t underestimate the power of sleep to support your marathon preparation. You should be aiming for a minimum 7 hours and ideally 9 hours each night. This supports our recovery, mood, focus, and decision-making and reduces injury and illness. Having a bedtime routine and similar sleep and wake-up times helps prepare the body for better sleep.

    3. Goal Setting: You have likely got a number in the back of your mind of how quickly you would like to complete the marathon in, but have you got any other goals along the way?

    Setting goals other than your end target can help keep you on track for your ultimate goal but just as important is that it can help keep you motivated. Think about how many times a week you want to train, how many miles you want to run, are you also trying to change your nutrition, cut down on alcohol or get more sleep?

    Psychological Preparedness

    A marathon is as much a psychological challenge as it is a physical one. In the depths of marathon training, it’s unlikely that you’ll always feel inspired and motivated. Dips in motivation are completely normal. Training plans often bring injuries, illness, and competing commitments. There may be times where the last thing you want to do is go out for a run or where the thought of race day feels overwhelming.

    Back in caveman times, it was brain’s job to spot potential threats and dangers. Without this ability, the chance of sustained survival was slim. Our brains have retained this skill overtime, and so, challenges like a marathon can provoke our protective instincts. It’s natural to experience some anxiety and doubt in the lead up to and during the marathon challenge but there are important psychological skills you can learn to help… 

    1. In the depths of long mileage, it’s common to ask yourself “why on earth am I doing this?!”. And that’s a great question. It’s important that you can answer this, and that the answer (1) is meaningful to you and (2) aligns with your values.
    2. Our attention can get swept away with the miles, and before we know it, we’re thinking about the miles to come rather than the mile we’re in. Learning how to harness present-moment awareness is a key tool for your running toolbox.

    Physiotherapy

    Running injuries are common for many people. This might be due to old injuries rearing their ugly head, overloading due to increased mileage or force being put through muscles and joints therefore becoming sore.

    There are multiple ways of reducing the likelihood of getting injured including nutrition, sleep and sensible loading. One of the ways to reduce injuries is strength work for the lower body, including single-leg squats and calf raises. It’s not a surprise the leg is the most common area for runners to feel pain and get injured. These two exercises go a long way in increasing strength in the lower limb (Glutes, Quadriceps, Hamstrings and Calves) but also the control through range you need when running (Hips, Knees & Ankles). 

    If you have any injury concerns visit our Physiotherapy Clinic page. 

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    Prepare for The TSC London Marathon 2025 with Loughborough Sport

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