And there's one more thing you can do to help the recovery process - learn how to walk down stairs backwards!! lol

You're right Paul, not much you can do now other than to enjoy the taper! It's normal to feel you haven't done enough, but use the taper to rest with some shorter sessions and your body and mind will get to the start line ready to launch rather than feeling drained. You're probably going to feel smashed for a couple of days after as this is your first marathon and your body isn't going to like what you put it through. Nonetheless, you can help it out by using the taper to rest and repair with the minutes and days after the race getting in the carbs and some good quality protein to speed up the muscle-healing process. Most important though is to keep moving - go for a walk each day to stretch out the muscles. Simple!

Best of luck to you and everyone else courageous enough to push their limits.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement!

I completed my 20 mile run on Saturday, felt pretty tired afterwards but hugely relieved that it's in the bank and I can begin my taper. I'm feeling a mix of relief that the longest runs are over, combined with a nagging doubt that I'm not ready - all normal I assume. I guess all I can do is stick to the plan and get to the start line as healthy and happy as possible on race day. There's a definite mental aspect to training for and running a marathon I didn't appreciate before.

Good luck to everybody.

Good luck Paul. You are right when you say that you just need to follow through with the rest of your plan. Don't be tempted to do something crazy like cram in extra miles. Use the taper well and get in plenty of rest leading up to the event (I find rest to be more beneficial than extra training at this stage).

Enjoy your marathon. It's a great achievement to run that far, so don't ever lose sight of the fact that you're doing something that most people couldn't.

If I had one tip for on the day, it would be don't go off too quickly.  Stick to your training pace even though people are passing you - you will overtake them later once they've blown up ;-)

Paul, it's totally normal to feel smashed and broken after a long run. You are putting your body through a lot of strain and stress. What you'll find is that next time round (yes!) you will recover a bit more quickly as your body strengthens and also you learn what works for you. See you in Brighton, it's a brilliant race.

Nice to hear form some other people in the same situation. I'm feeling better about my training and have reached the stage where there's not much I can really do now other than follow through with the rest of my plan and hope for the best come race day.

Good luck to everybody running this spring and thanks for the advice.

I'm in training for my second London marathon in April and must agree that feeling tired is all part of the process. What I found helps a lot is post run nutrition and taking care of my legs straight after a long run. I use a recovery drink to get the minerals and liquid back into my system and use compression on my calfs to help ease the muscles. I used to just veg out after these runs but now find that if I take my dog for a slow walk afterwards that my legs don't stiffen up and usually I'm ready for another run the next day. I must admit though that the feelings of tiredness I get from exercise are a lot better than the ones I used to get from just sitting around and being lazy      

Hi Paul,

I have my first marathon on that day too, in Paris. From everything I've read and all the advice I've been given, tiredness is absolutely normal at this stage of your training. Also because your weekly mileage isn't all that high for marathon training, a really long LSR represents a really high propertion of your weekly running so you can expect to feel shattered afterwards. Don't do anything crazy during the taper and I think you will feel refreshed for Brighton. Good luck to us both.

Hi,

I am running my first marathon in April when I run the Brighton marathon. I manage to run three time s a week and cross train on a fourth day. So far I haven't run over 30 miles in a week but my longest run so far has been 18 miles and I've got a 20 mile run planned for this Saturday before I start my taper.

This is probably a stupid question but I'm finding that I'm absolutley shattered after my long run (laying on the sofa wiped out) and even pretty tired the day after my mid-week runs - is this a normal part of me upping my mileage compare to usual? Also my times seem to have slowed down and I haven't had a "quick" run in weeks.

I guess I'm hoping for some kind of reassurance that being tired is all part of the experience and the taper cure all!

Any advice would be much appreciated.