Overview
Angela White, 60, became the oldest female to run the 875-mile JOGLE in 2019. Aim to eat 30 or more different plant foods each week for balance. Aim for around 2 litres of water a day, more in hot weather. Get 7 to 9 hours of sleep and take at least one rest day weekly.
How to Stay Healthy While Marathon Training
When you’re training for a marathon, staying healthy can be just as important as completing the sessions on your training plan.
Increasing your mileage puts additional demands on your body, making good nutrition, hydration, sleep and recovery increasingly important.
To find out how runners can look after themselves during a demanding training block, we spoke to Angela White, aka The Running Granny.
Angela started running at 53 and, at the age of 60, completed the 875-mile journey from John O’Groats to Land’s End in just over 18 days.
Here are her top tips for staying healthy while marathon training.
1. Eat Enough to Support Your Marathon Training
As your training volume increases, so do the demands you’re placing on your body.
Rather than focusing on restrictive diets, aim for a balanced diet that provides enough energy to support both your training and recovery.
Your diet should include a mixture of carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals.
Carbohydrates are particularly important for runners because they help fuel your training, while protein supports muscle recovery and repair.
Try to include plenty of variety too, with fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts and other nutrient-rich foods forming part of your everyday diet.
Most importantly, make sure you’re eating enough to support the amount of training you’re doing.
2. Stay Hydrated During Marathon Training
Hydration isn’t something you should only think about on race day.
You’ll lose fluid through sweat whenever you run, even when the weather is cool. How much you lose varies considerably between runners and changes according to factors such as temperature, intensity and duration.
For longer runs, weighing yourself before and after training can give you an indication of how much fluid you’re losing through sweat.
You also lose electrolytes, particularly sodium, through sweat. During longer sessions or in warmer conditions, an electrolyte drink can help replace both fluid and important electrolytes.
Rather than trying to catch up immediately before a run, aim to stay consistently hydrated throughout your training week.
3. Prioritise Sleep and Recovery
Training provides the stimulus, but recovery is when your body adapts.
Sleep is one of the most important parts of that process.
Most adults should aim for around 7–9 hours of sleep each night, although individual requirements vary.
A consistent bedtime routine can help. Try reducing screen time before bed, avoiding large amounts of caffeine later in the day and creating an environment that helps you switch off.
This becomes particularly important as your mileage increases and you begin adding longer or harder sessions to your training.
4. Don’t Ignore Your Rest Days
More training doesn’t always mean better training.
Rest gives your body an opportunity to recover, repair and adapt to the work you’ve already done.
Include regular rest or easy recovery days within your marathon training plan and resist the temptation to add extra sessions simply because you’re feeling good.
A rest day doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing. A gentle walk or some light mobility can be a good form of active recovery.
Remember: recovery is part of your training, not time away from it.
5. Listen to Your Body
Learning to recognise when something doesn’t feel right can help prevent a small problem becoming a bigger setback.
There’s a difference between the normal fatigue associated with marathon training and persistent pain, unusual exhaustion or feeling consistently run down.
If a niggle isn’t improving, don’t simply keep pushing through because your training plan says you need to run.
Taking an additional easy or rest day can be far less disruptive than being forced to take several weeks away from training later.
Consistency across an entire marathon training block is far more valuable than completing one individual session.
Fuel Your Long Runs Properly
As your marathon training progresses, your long runs will require more attention to fuelling.
Once you’re running for longer periods, consuming carbohydrate during exercise can help provide additional energy and gives you an opportunity to practise your race-day nutrition strategy.
For longer endurance sessions, carbohydrate intake commonly falls within a range of around 30–60g per hour, with higher intakes potentially appropriate for longer-duration exercise.
Use your long runs to practise:
- What you’ll eat before running
- When you’ll start fuelling
- How many carbohydrates you’ll consume
- How much you’ll drink
- Which products your stomach tolerates
By race day, your nutrition strategy should feel just as familiar as your running kit.
VOOM Products We’d Recommend for Marathon Training
A few VOOM products can help support your longer training sessions and recovery:
Pocket Rocket Energy Bars – 45g of carbohydrate split into four easy bites, making it easy to fuel gradually during longer runs.
Hydrate Rapid Electrolyte – A hypotonic electrolyte drink designed to support rapid hydration before, during or after training.
ElectroBytes – Easy-to-carry electrolyte chews for topping up electrolytes during longer or warmer training sessions.
RecoverFudge – A convenient source of carbohydrate and protein to kick-start your recovery after harder and longer runs.
Stay Healthy, Stay Consistent
The key to successful marathon training isn’t completing every session perfectly. It’s being able to train consistently over weeks and months.
Eat enough to support your training, stay hydrated, prioritise sleep, take your recovery seriously and listen when your body is telling you something isn’t right.
Look after yourself throughout the training block and you’ll give yourself the best chance of arriving at the start line healthy, prepared and ready to race.
