Have you decided to run your first marathon? Or maybe your legs are already carrying a few but you want to keep adding kilometers? Be that as it may, choosing a specific marathon is not an easy task and you have to take into account several important factors. We give you the three key questions you have to answer to find the perfect marathon for you.
The perfect date for the marathon
One of the first things to keep in mind is the date of the race, not only to be aware of the conditions in which it is possible to run (more or less heat, depending on the time of year), but also to know in what conditions we are going to have to prepare the race.
If we choose a marathon that takes place in the last quarter of the year we should be aware that the bulk of the training we will have to do during the summer months, a time that is generally not the best to run due to high temperatures. Of course, when the key date arrives and if we have followed the trainings properly, it is most likely that we will arrive in very good conditions to face the race.
The marathons of the first and second quarter of the year, however, are trained during the autumn / winter, with a climate that encourages us to go for a run. The “bad” part is that we play to make the day of the race too hot or threaten rain.
Better a marathon with slopes or flat?
The general opinion is that a flat marathon, such as Valencia or Seville, which presumes to be the flattest in Europe, are much simpler than a marathon with slopes, such as Madrid, but the truth is that it depends on where we are more comfortable each one of us.
Knowing the altimetric profile of the race in which we are going to participate is basic when it comes to designing both the strategy that we are going to follow on “D-day” and the training of the previous months. If you are going to run a famous marathon for its slopes it is necessary that you prepare yourself with training that puts your legs in tune and that they assure you that you will be able to give the best of yourself even when you have already traveled a dozen kilometers.
Do I run my city marathon or do I go away?
Running in your own city, even though the marathon is tough (as is the case in Madrid), gives you a series of advantages that other cities may not offer you. Surely you know the route well and know perfectly where each slope is located, each steep slope, where you can accelerate and where you have to reserve. In addition, you will also have the support of your family and friends, who will be happy to go out to cheer you up, and other runners with whom you have shared training or previous races.
On the other hand, running out of our city can be very attractive and a perfect way to do a bit of marathon tourism : it is the perfect occasion to spend a few days of vacation and finish the stay running through the most emblematic streets of the city that We have gone to visit.
Remember that, in case you run a marathon outside your city, it is important that you leave as soon as possible both the accommodation and the details of the trip (transport, meals, etc.): leaving these things for the last days can generate extra nerves that will not suit us well on race day.
Answering and evaluating your answer to these three questions will help you choose the perfect marathon for you. Personally, in my premiere in marathon I opted to run my own city, which for me was ideal: I know the Madrid marathon route, which also passes almost in front of my house; I could place family and friends cheering at different points of the route, I ran with friends a good part of the race and also has a lot of slopes, which I find more comfortable than other routes more plain. For the next one we have to go out: goal Florence 2017!
How do you choose your next marathon?
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