Running a marathon: Be patient, and enjoy yourself – Nick Anderson

With just a day away from the 2020 GIG Malta Marathon and Half Marathon and with over 4,600 runners signed up to be at the starting line in Rabat on Sunday, today is the day all runners, from novice to elite really feel the surge of excitement and anxiety kick in. With just hours away, those competing on Sunday are undoubtedly busy preparing their race kit, pinning their bib and carefully checking that everything they need for the big day is in their race bag.  Keeping busy whilst trying to not overthink and get too nervous about the event.

In occasion to one of the biggest running events on the island, The Malta Independent spoke to coach Nick Anderson; the England Head Marathon and England Regional Coach; Anderson is also the local Mellieha Athletic Club Head Coach. With over 25 years of coaching experience, Nick is also a qualified nutritionist and sport therapist. Anderson speaks to Giulia Magri about his coaching philosophy, the importance of being patient and some tips for tomorrow’s big race.

With over 25 years of coaching experience, and currently England Marathon Lead and England Regional Coaching Lead for the South, you and your team are now coaching Mellieha AC, can you tell me something about your role as Head Coach and what brought you to Malta?

Just under a year ago, members Ivan and James from the club contacted me to fill the vacancy for head coach role, which was a really lovely surprise. I was already coaching two athletes on the island, as they visit UK often, but I had never been to Malta. After numerous meetings on skype, I hopped on a plane to Malta and from then on it’s been great fun. It’s fantastic looking after people in the club, whether they are new to running, competitive in teams, or looking into running league races or races abroad.

It is a lovely opportunity and I’m enjoying working with a club abroad and seeing the friendship and community of the club members I gradually changed things a bit to my own method of training. It is work in progress and many of the club runners have already experienced great results and ran PBs.

I also have a business in the UK called “Runningwithus” and some of my team mates help me with coaching.

Nick before you started coaching you were a marathoner yourself. What made you decide to become a coach and when was Runningwithus founded?

I ran internationally as a junior athlete and in my mid-20s I fell into coaching – because of where I lived and the people I started to look after, and I qualified as a coach. After that I started teaching P.E and began coaching children at school, and over 25 years that eagerness to coach and learn grew. 10 years ago, me and my team mates set up Runningwithus and that was my opportunity to give all my time as a full-time coach. Together with my team at Runningwithus we run training camps, look after different types of runners and we look after different charities in the UK too.

It has been such a lovely journey and I have a dedicated team working with me. However, I have also been very fortunate as a coach. I look after some of the Great Britain runners and will be taking them to the World Championships at the end of March. I have been very fortunate over the last 20 years to have worked with the people I worked with and to have done the work I did. I am always learning. Will never stop learning. I learn from other coaches, athletes and from other sports.

What is your coaching philosophy? How would you describe your method which has brought success to so many runners?

First thing I say to runners is ‘Please be patient’. If you are learning to drive, you can have extra lessons and pass your test quickly. It is not the same for running, you have to allow your body to grow. The way your body adapts to the training you do over the period of weeks, months and years is what builds your fitness. So in the first few weeks and few months when you first start training  you will see some huge improvements quickly, you are reaching a certain level and the next improvements which come along, which are known as performance results, take longer to build.

 Runners need to be patient and I like to build an endurance pace. I am very keen that people learn to run to efforts and follow heart rates and follow their perceived effort. They plan their runs and how to run, so that they can understand their training and build their physiology together. I also believe runners need to be strong and cross train in order to stay injury free and see great results.

I do not believe in dictating; I believe our runners should listen to their body and understand what is best for them. Communication is extremely important.

When and which was your first marathon?

I started racing half marathons in my late 20’s, quite late, but I was already running for many years on the track, cross-country and 5-10km races. I used to run one or two in spring and another two in the autumn, and I did that every year until I was 40. I still run them now, but now I tend to pace runners.

What makes you happy besides one of your athletes making the podium or running a personal best?

Honestly, it is simply seeing people improve and enjoying their journey at the same time. Last weekend, quite a few athletes from the club took part in the ‘fastest 10km’ race, and when I took on this role last year I recall telling them that it will take time for them to achieve the results they want, but that they will achieve them in time. And these same athletes all ran a fantastic time, because they trained for it but also because they enjoyed themselves.

This Sunday is the Malta Marathon and with just a day away what is your advice to those athletes who are trying to hit their personal best?

My advice to those who are aiming to run faster this Sunday, who have previously run half marathons before: it is important to keep in mind that the route starts with a very steep downhill, so a very fast start. One must be a bit careful in the first kms, as it is easy to get carried away and increase pace, however because you are running so fast you are building up a lot of oxygen debt and fatigue which later in the race will have their toll on the body. So even though running downhill, one should still use the first two kms to find his/her effort, not push too hard. Save the energy.

Whatever happens in a half marathon, you want to get to half way feeling strong, so that you can really push the last half of the race. So for those who want to run a personal best, it is important to run close to your threshold in the first half of the race, and then squeezing it in the last half as you start to work harder to maintain that.

There will also be many new runners who will be running their first ever marathon. What advice would you give to those newbies?

I believe for first time marathon runners, it is all about running the distance and not worrying too much about the time you run and who is around you. I would want them to imagine that they are running with a friend (and many of them will be) and you are just looking to chat throughout the whole race. If you can’t talk, you are running too hard. The run will get harder as you continue, but your aim is to finish the run and be in control.

What is your advice to athletes and runners who constantly panic about what to eat pre marathon?

I’m not a huge fan of carb-loading, in the old fashion sense that before people would stop eating carbohydrates the weekend before, do a long run and deplete the system. Then not eat carbohydrates for two or four days, and then they would start eating carbohydrates. In theory, you then carb-load, but this causes a lot of stress to the body and for some runners it makes them feel ill before they run the race.

These days with different gels and sport drinks you can take during the race, there really is no reason to carb-load. I believe you should stick to your normal diet during the week, which has plenty of carbohydrates in it and maybe increase slightly in the last two days, but do not stress the gut. Make sure all week, you are never having long periods of being hungry, but healthy snacking throughout the day. Do not eat any food you have never tried before and on race day have the breakfast you would normally have before you your long runs, no changes!

Why is it so important to rest during the countdown of the marathon?

Rest is where you actually get fitter. You do the training which is a stimulus and damages the body, and if the right kind of stimulus is a good thing then the rest, along with good nutrition, is where the new cells grow, the tissue repairs and you come back stronger. In the final week or two of training you are probably at a stage where you are not going to get any fitter, because there is not enough time for your body to heal itself if you do any long runs.

This is why it is better to start reducing the training -period times, this is what we call a taper. In the final week, I believe it is best to run your normal runs, but less intense and not as long. That means your body is still doing what it is used to doing but not as much as usual so that come race day it is fresh and ready to perform at its best.

Runners focus a lot on their strength, endurance and speed, but sometimes we completely forget about our emotional wellbeing before an important race. What are your comments on this?

I believe this is an area of the sport which we are getting better and better at understanding.  How different types of human beings respond to different types of situations. Some people like to have a target and follow that target, other people actually feel much better at not following a pace and running by feel. Many are very competitive, whilst others perform better by forgetting about anyone around them and just running on their own perception of effort. There are so many ways to completing your marathon. However, whatever you do, if it becomes very stressful be it the build-up to the event or the event itself and you start to resent being part of it then, I actually do not think it is very healthy and you should refrain from running. As a runner participating in the marathon or half marathon you should be excited about this weekend and you should enjoy your run. Love every run and go out and enjoy the experience. You will be nervous and that is normal; you will perform and you are going to run a long way, but embrace it and enjoy this experience. Smile. If you learn to smile, you relax and you run better!