Tips for running the Zurich Marató Barcelona 2024

The 45th edition of the Zurich Marató Barcelona will be held next 10th of March, with a new course after more than a decade with the same route. For this reason, the organisers of the Barcelona Marathon and one of the members of the race’s technical committee and ex-professional athlete, Nacho Cáceres, bring you a series of tips to prepare for your next challenge in 2024 with maximum guarantees:

Medical check-up

Whether it’s your first marathon or you’ve already done a few, it never hurts to go through the hands of a professional to make sure everything is fine. Although sometimes things happen that are out of our control, let’s prevent those things that depend on us from happening.

Circuit and its altimetry

Now that you have decided to sign up, it won’t hurt to look up the map of the new circuit you are going to run and find out where the most favourable and difficult points are. Depending on this, part of your preparation will be aimed at working on certain aspects.

Training plan

Whether you want to run fast, slow down, or just have fun, a professional will help you manage your day-to-day running. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 12, 16, 20 week plan. The right guide will always help you. And if that’s not possible, the Zurich Marató Barcelona offers its own training plans, the official ones.

Appropriate footwear for preparation

Use shoes with the right cushioning to minimise the load of your sessions. Don’t just think about the 42,195m on race day. Calculate that you will be running possibly 20 times more during your training sessions. This means that shoes for daily training and others that you use occasionally for key training sessions and on the day of the marathon would be more than advisable so that on the day of the race you don’t have any unexpected problems.

Correct hydration and nutrition

Getting to the finish line isn’t just about hydrating and eating well during race week. The vehicle that will get you to the finish line is your body, so make sure you give it what it needs to be ready to take you that far right from the start of your preparation.

Respect the breaks

In your training plan, in addition to specific sessions to achieve your goal, there will also be marked breaks. They are just as important as each other. Look at your plan like a puzzle and remember that to complete it and see the whole picture you must put as many pieces as possible. And the pieces you can’t put in one day, you can put in the next. Being flexible will be the key to reconcile your training with all your obligations.

Preventive work

Make sure your training plan includes preventive and compensatory work. It is just as important that you do slow, medium and fast kilometres as it is that you give your body other stimuli where you can boost strength and elasticity, without forgetting stretching. The sum of all this will facilitate your recovery and prevent the onset of unexpected discomfort that could deprive you of the continuity you need to enjoy the Zurich Marató Barcelona.

Physiotherapy

Visit a physiotherapist every 4 to 5 weeks. Just like a car needs servicing, our body needs the same. Don’t wait for pain or discomfort to appear before doing so. Think that it is many weeks and many kilometres. Sooner or later something will bother us. But don’t give it more importance than necessary, because it only means that you are training hard.

Test your outfit and accesories

Don’t wear your clothes and shoes for the first time on 10th of March. Experiments are forbidden on that day. A blister, a chafing in an unsuspected and uncomfortable place can ruin your day. A good solution for this is to apply the ointment used for baby chafing to the areas where there is the most friction. Underarms, nipples, crotch, feet, etc.

Biorhythms, meals and sleeping hours

If your job and family schedules allow it, try to go to sleep and get up during the week before the Zurich Marató Barcelona at the same time as the day of the race. This will get your body used to regulating itself so that you don’t have to go to the bathroom at a time when you should be running.

Nutrition and refreshments for D-Day and H-Hour

As with clothing, it is important that on race day you have tested what you are going to drink or ingest during the race. The last test run and some heavy training over the last month can be a great test bed to see which drink or gel suits you best.

Race day strategy

Talk to your coach or, if you don’t have one, to someone you know who has run the Zurich Marató Barcelona or who has enough experience to help you organise a strategy on how to tackle and divide the Marató into several points. Without a doubt, knowing what you are going to do at each point will make the kilometres more enjoyable and will prepare you to overcome adversity when it appears.