Marathon season is almost here, and if your training has gone well, you are probably starting to think seriously about race day strategy. After nearly 20 years of working with both amateur and elite runners, the single piece of advice that has stayed with me longest came from a seminar early in my career, delivered by the great Liz McColgan: "Plan the race, race the plan."

It sounds simple. It is not always easy to execute.

This week alone, the clinic has seen several runners coming in with injuries and setbacks that trace back to one very common mistake: going off too hard on race day. So before you line up at the start, let's talk about what actually goes wrong, and how to make sure it does not happen to you.

Why Race Day Feels Different (And Why That Is a Problem)

You have trained consistently. You know your pace. You have done the long runs, the tempo sessions, the rest days. Then race day arrives, and something shifts.

The crowd energy is electric. Thousands of runners surge around you. The adrenaline kicks in before you have even crossed the start line. And that carefully planned 5:30 per kilometre pace suddenly feels almost embarrassingly slow when everyone around you is flying.

So you go with it. You bank a few faster kilometres early on, telling yourself you will manage it later.

This is where the plan falls apart.

We see this pattern repeatedly, particularly at high-profile events like the London Marathon. Runners train at a specific pace and distance, build their body to handle that load, and then on race day, fuelled by excitement and adrenaline, they abandon the strategy entirely. The result is a significant mismatch between what the body has been prepared for and what it is actually being asked to do. Cramping, hitting the wall, and acute injury are all far more likely when this happens.

What "Plan the Race, Race the Plan" Actually Means

When Liz McColgan gave this advice, she was not talking about being rigid or inflexible for its own sake. She was talking about respecting the work you have already done.

Your training has been building your body's capacity, step by step, to handle a specific race pace over a specific distance. That process is deliberate. Every long run, every recovery session, every strength exercise feeds into your ability to perform on race day. The plan you set going in reflects all of that preparation.

Deviating from it, especially in the early stages, does not just risk your finishing time. It risks your physical health.

Going out too fast places sudden and excessive load on muscles, tendons, and joints that have been conditioned to work at a different intensity. Soft tissue injuries, stress fractures, and overuse flare-ups become significantly more likely when you outpace your own preparation. And unlike missing a time goal, a soft tissue injury can mean weeks or months of recovery, not just a disappointing split.

What We Are Seeing in the Clinic Right Now

The weeks leading into marathon season are always busy at our clinic. Some of what we are managing is the natural consequence of a hard training block, niggles that need addressing before they become something more serious. But a good proportion of what comes through the door at this time of year is preventable.

Common presentations right now include:

• ITB tightness and lateral knee pain from ramping up mileage too quickly
• Plantar fascia irritation from increased load and inadequate recovery
• Calf and Achilles issues that have been quietly building and are now making themselves known
• Hip flexor and glute problems linked to gait changes under fatigue

If any of these sound familiar, the time to address them is before race day, not after. Getting a proper assessment now gives us the window to treat, load-manage, and make sure you arrive at the start line in the best possible condition.

Practical Tips for the Final Weeks Before Your Marathon

With the race approaching, here is what we recommend to our runners:

Respect your taper. Reducing mileage in the final two to three weeks is not weakness; it is strategy. The fitness is already built. The taper is where your body consolidates it.

Set a realistic race pace and write it down. Do not leave it in your head where adrenaline can override it. Pin it to your wrist, save it on your watch, commit to it.

Start conservatively. The first 10 kilometres should feel almost too easy. That sensation is correct. You are banking physical reserves for the second half of the race, which is where races are actually won and lost.

Address niggles now. A tightness that feels manageable in training can become a significant problem under 42 kilometres of race-day load. If something is bothering you, get it looked at.

Think about your return to running post-race. Recovery is part of the plan too. Many runners underestimate how much the body needs after a marathon, and jump back into training too quickly.

Supporting Your Return to Sport

Whether you are running your first marathon or your fifteenth, the principle of structured, evidence-based preparation applies at every level. At Marni Cochrane, our sports injury rehabilitation work is built around exactly that: helping runners optimise their preparation, manage load intelligently, and recover fully so they can keep doing what they love.

If you are heading into marathon season with a niggle that needs attention, or you simply want a pre-race physiotherapy assessment to make sure everything is in order, we are here to help. Get in touch with us through our website and let's make sure your race day goes exactly as planned.