Your Final 72 Hours Before the London Marathon

Final lifting session (if you do one at all)

This is the day most hybrid athletes get wrong. You feel fresh, the taper has been boring, and you sneak in one more lift because you feel like you should be doing something. Do not.

If you absolutely must move weights on Thursday, keep it under 20 minutes. Two or three light movements at 40 to 50 percent of your working weights, two sets of five. Think goblet squats, glute bridges, a couple of rows. The goal is to remind the nervous system that it owns these patterns, not to create any training stimulus. No grinding reps, no novel exercises, no heavy singles.

• Light mobility flow, 10 to 15 minutes
• Optional short lift, all weights submaximal
• 20 to 30 minute easy walk in the evening
• Lights out by 10pm

The expo day

The London Marathon Running Show at ExCeL is open 10am to 8pm on Friday. Go early. Friday afternoon is the busiest day of the week and you do not want to spend two hours on your feet shuffling through crowds 48 hours out from the race.

Collect your pack, walk the expo floor for 30 to 40 minutes maximum, then leave. Resist the urge to try new gels, new shoes or new kit that the sponsors are pushing. Nothing new on race day is the oldest rule in marathon running for a reason.

Carb loading starts in earnest today if it has not already. The widely cited target is 8 to 12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight per day in the three to four days before the race. For an 80kg athlete that is somewhere between 640 and 960 grams of carbs daily. That sounds enormous because it is. Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, oats, fruit, sports drinks, the occasional sweet treat. Keep fat and fibre moderate.

• Expo in the morning, in and out inside an hour
• Three larger carb-dominant meals plus snacks
• Steady hydration through the day, pale yellow urine is the target
• Kit laid out on a chair or table by the evening
• Lights out by 10pm

Do almost nothing

Saturday is the day to resist all temptation. Your friends will want to go out. The sun might be beautiful. You will feel bored and twitchy and convinced you should do something active. The strongest thing you can do is sit still.

A 15 to 20 minute shakeout jog in the morning at genuine easy pace is fine. Four or five 20-second pickups at the end of it are fine. Nothing else. No strength work at all, not even mobility if you cannot resist turning it into a workout.

Eat your main carb-heavy meal at lunch or early evening, not late. You want your body to be done digesting before bed. A familiar meal you have eaten 20 times before a long run. This is not the day to try the tasting menu.

• 20 minute shakeout jog, easy, optional pickups
• Kit check twice, pin your number on this evening
• Set two alarms for Sunday morning
• Check transport, the start is in Greenwich and the tube will be busy
• Main meal by 7pm, lights out by 10pm

From alarm to start line

The elite women go at 9:05am and the mass start rolls from 9:35am. Work backwards from your wave time. Most runners need to be on the train to Greenwich, Blackheath or Maze Hill roughly three hours before their start. That probably means a 5:30am or 6am alarm.

Breakfast is the single most important meal of the year. Eat it three to four hours before your wave. 100 to 150 grams of carbs, low in fat and fibre, something you have practised many times. Porridge with banana and honey. White toast with jam. A bagel with a bit of peanut butter. A bottle of sports drink alongside it.

From there, the plan is simple. Get to the start pen with 20 minutes to spare. Do a short dynamic warm-up. Take one gel 15 minutes before the gun. Trust the pacing you trained for. Do not chase anyone in the first 10k.

• Breakfast 3 to 4 hours before your wave
• Sip water and electrolytes up to 45 minutes before the start
• Warm layers for the start area, clothes you are willing to donate
• Dynamic warm-up of 5 to 8 minutes in the pen
• First 10k at or slightly below goal pace, never above