It’s marathon season. The longest run is either fast approaching or in the bank and all that’s left to do now is panic and obsessively check the long-range weather forecast, right? No, don’t do that.

In a weird kind of any I’m jealous of all the runners with their tired legs and maranoia. It’s the first spring in a few years that I won’t be pinning a race number to my vest come April and lining up to run. I’ll be spectating with all my might at the London Marathon and cheering on all my runners in their various marathons around the world. But it’s not the same.

But because I’ve been there a fair few times, I’m going to share some advice for those tapering towards their race. Hopefully this will help you stay calm and focused.

1. Remember how lucky you are. You get to run 26.2 miles. Nobody is forcing you to, you chose to do this and that you have a body that is capable of going out for a run of any distance makes you incredibly lucky. Don’t forget that. Not everybody is that lucky.
2. Focus on what matters. It’s easy to feel pressure as race day approaches. Pressure you’ve put on yourself or pressure that you feel to meet a certain expectation those around you. Try not to focus on this. Relax, go for a walk, go see a film, do something that doesn’t involve running or talking about running or reading about running (this blog included).
3. Look at how far you’ve come. All those runs you’ve ticked off, whether they went well or not, are an achievement in themselves. You’ve logged a lot of miles, maybe not as many as you intended to but that doesn’t matter now.
4. You can’t add anything in now. No panic training, no last long run in the taper period – this isn’t a good idea. You can’t help, only hinder your race now. Don’t do anything stupid. Write that on your calendar for every day between now and your race.
5. Try to relax. Plan your last few days – getting to the race, what you need to take, who will be where – now so that you don’t have a last-minute panic and you can spend the days before your race relaxing as much as possible. (My Stress-Free Race Guide has more advice and packing lists).
6. If you want to read about marathons to get you excited to race, I recommend my list of the 16 I’ve done, or have a listen to the podcast I did talking to a few runners about their first marathon.

Wherever you’re racing this spring, I hope you have a lot of fun and exceed your expectations. Happy running!

If you’ve got an autumn marathon planned this year, get in touch now if you’d like to discuss my coaching options.