Ask any marathon runner what they fear the most and for the overwhelming number it is ”hitting the wall”. So what does that mean and why do we fear it? If we go back to some basic physiology we eat to provide energy and we store some of that energy away for when we are not eating. Carbohydrates (sugars) are converted to glucose and then stored as complex chains of glucose (Glycogen). Fats are stored via a different pathway and are less available for short term energy requirements.
So we run. After somewhere between 30-35 km at my marathon pace, two hours for some people, a random amount of time for others all of the available glucose is used up. Glycogen stores are depleted and energy runs out. We have now hit the wall.
What’s it like? Not fun. I can describe two methods of hitting the wall neither pleasant.
One. The short, sharp catastrophic ”Oh dear” method of hitting the wall. This one can sneak up and has been described as having a bear jump on your back. Can occur within 400 metres. Running along thinking that this is going ok suddenly evolves into painful legs, laboured breathing and fevered recalculation of how long it is going to take to finish. May or may not have cramping associated just to add to the challenge.
Two. The long slow descent into twilight. I have found this one tends to come after too optimistic estimates of finishing times. Having started too hard and being in a good place at half way or beyond the pace starts to fall away and then slows and slows and slows. It is a more insidious occurrence but no less painful. No amount of goodwill or desperation makes it better.
How can we avoid the wall?
Some runners believe in a conservative pacing strategy, others swear by a nutrition plan. I’ve never been a fan of gels and tablets and drinks during marathons. My tummy tends to rebel after the end if I’ve gone hard and everything that went in reappears. Not pretty. I also don’t like sports drink spilled down my shirt. It’s a bit of a skill to run and drink and if I’m going to wear something I’d rather it was water than sticky drink. The difficulty I have with pacing is that to run conservatively seems pessimistic. At this stage of my career I still hope there is another good one in there sometime. I’m not sure I can make up time in the back half, so I tend to go a bit hard and hope.
One interesting aside from hitting the wall is that, in my case at least, my mind stays active and knows what’s going on but my body does not respond to any of the great running cliches. No pain, no gain? Just do it? Mind over matter? In reply we get, How about F*** off and we go to the pub? What I have found more useful is to come to an agreement with my body along the lines of ”if I don’t try to push you will you get me to the finish line and then we’ll go to the pub ”? So far that has been a deal that has gotten us to the line.
As with so many things the challenge is to keep everything in balance. I have paced the Melbourne marathon a couple of times so I know that in 2021 I could run 3.40 reasonably comfortably carrying a flag and running even splits. (Past performance is no indication of future performance (in superannuation and marathon running)). In that case, although tired at the I didn’t feel that I had hit the wall. Let me add at this point that it doesn’t matter how slow you go 42km is still 42km and will leave you worn out. Hitting the wall is the icing on the cake.
The Major Marathons -Boston
All of the major marathons have their own unique features. Boston is the oldest of them with the first being run in 1897. It is an event for runners which sounds odd for a major marathon but can be appreciated when you arrive in Boston and people in the street ask if you are there for the marathon. The event is held on Patriot’s day, a public holiday and is a point to point marathon. This is another unique feature as all of the city yellow school buses are drafted in to move runners out to Hopkinton from where we run back into Boston.
Boston is surprisingly accessible for anyone who can meet the time qualifying. For us overseas they accept many of the AIMS certified marathons in Australia as qualifying events. That includes all of our capital city marathons and Gold Coast and several others. AIMS is the Association of International Marathons who can certify that a course is the correct length and isn’t too downhill or designed with a generally prevailing tailwind and so on.
The course in Boston starts downhill for the first 4-5 km before passing through a couple of small towns. People gather on front lawns and through the towns to cheer and encourage runners. The atmosphere is always very positive. At 21 km runners pass through the ”scream tunnel” as girls from the Wellsley college gather to cheer. Into the suburbs there is a right turn at the fire station and on to three hills. The third of these is Heartbreak hill. To be honest I didn’t find these hills all that hard but they do come at a difficult point in the event.
Where Boston really stuns is the crowd support coming into town, 3-4 deep and loud. The last two turns put runners up a little hill on Hereford street and then left on to Boylston. This is fantasy land for runners. 800 metres, slightly downhill with the finish kite in sight all the way. People on the grandstands cheering. A sobering reminder is passing the spot where there was a bombing during the running of the 2013 marathon.
One of the great unknowns in Boston is the weather. When I ran in 2015 it was about 7 degrees C. Two weeks prior there was snow on the ground. In 2017 it was 23 degrees C getting on the hot end of desirable for a marathon. It should be remembered that marathons in these cooler climates start later to give the day time to warm up. In Australia we start at 6.00 or 7.00 am to avoid heat and any danger of support (a theme for another blog).
The day after the marathon we went for a recovery walk and to take in the history of Boston. There are many highlights like Paul Revere’s home and sites involved in the American revolution. Each year Samuel Adams brews a special Boston marathon beer. In 2015 it was a very nice golden ale. In summary I think if you asked any runner to name one marathon it would be Boston.