Last-minute route changes

As explained in earlier articles, the courses of both the Marathon and Half Marathon have undergone some changes compared to previous editions of both events. A map showing details of both courses may be found on the official website www.maltamarathon.com.

The map will be found in the Official Race Programme that all runners will receive at registration.

However, please note that there has been a last-minute change to the Half Marathon route due to circumstances beyond the marathon committee's control; the website map has been updated to reflect the change and the map in the magazine will also show the changes.

The change in Half Marathon route is only within the first mile.

The Half Marathon shall retain the same start from near Mdina Gate, but after the first 300 metres shall turn right and pass through Triq il-Kbira and Triq San Pawl to exit near the Roman Villa at which point the route turns left and heads towards Nigret. From there onwards, the route is the same as was recently announced in this column.

Tomorrow sees only two weeks to go until race day, and at this point there is not much more training that can be "crammed in".

What runners should now be thinking about is tapering off. If you consider your normal training week, and how you normally feel on your Sunday run, that is not how you would like to feel on race day.

If you have been training hard, it is likely that you feel rather run-down on your Sunday run and want to do nothing more than run relaxed and easy with friends. This is not the kind of feeling you want to have on the race start-line when you are hoping to run 13, or even 26 miles, as fast as possible.

So, you must reduce the amount of miles you run over the next two weeks so that your body has an opportunity to freshen up.

Many distance runners openly admit that they do not like reducing training. They complain that they feel heavy-legged and less ready to race if they do less mileage. It is almost as if they fear that they will "lose fitness" if they run less miles.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Most studies show that athletes perform at much higher levels after a period of tapering and reduction in training mileage.

The key though is not to cut out all sessions. It is best with two weeks to go to reduce the total mileage you run by 30 per cent in week one, and by 50 per cent in week two.

However, you should retain a large percentage of your intense training.

Therefore, if you usually do two track (or intense) workouts per week, retain both of them in week one but reduce the amount of mileage.

For example, if you normally run 3 x 8 laps at half marathon pace, you might cut this back to 2 x 8 laps next week. Do make sure and cut back on your easy miles for the rest of the week. If you regularly train a total of 50 miles each week, cut back to between 35-40 miles.

In week two, just run a light track workout on Tues/Wed and then cut back even more in mileage (perhaps even taking a day or two off completely) so that you come fresh to the start-line the following Sunday.

Be sure to eat a higher percentage of carbohydrates in the final three days pre-race (but don't completely neglect valuable protein and fat) so that your leg muscles are fully loaded with glycogen and you are ready to bring out your best performance.

Areas to avoid on marathon day

Rabat - Saqqajja to Misrah San Duminku (8 a.m. and 9 a.m.)
Rabat-Dingli - Triq il-Buskett (8 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.)
Dingli - Triq il-Buskett and Triq il-Kbira (8.15 a.m. to 8.45 a.m.)
Dingli-Rabat - Triq ir-Rabat and Triq Dingli (8.15 a.m. to 9 a.m.)
Rabat - Misrah San Duminku to Saqqajja and Roman Villa to Nigret (8.20 a.m. to 9.30 a.m.)
Mtarfa by-pass and surrounding area (8.30 a.m. to 10.15 a.m.)
Ta' Qali and roads leading in and out (8.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.)
Attard - Misrah Kola, Triq Dun Mikiel Xerri, Triq il-Pitkali and Triq Santa Katarina (8.30 a.m. to 10 a.m.)
Attard - Triq il-Gradilja (9 a.m. to 10.45 a.m.)
Mosta - Vjal l-Indipendenza, part of Triq Il-Kbira and Triq Durumblat (8.45 a.m.-10.45 a.m.)
Zebbug - Triq l-Imdina towards Qormi (9.15 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.)
Qormi - Triq l-Imdina towards Marsa (9.30 a.m. till noon)
Marsa - Triq Aldo Moro and Triq Diçembru 13 towards Valletta (9.45 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.)
Blata l-Bajda - Triq Nazzjonali from Hamrun (9.45 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.)
Pietà - Triq l-Indipendenza from Triq Nazzjonali up to Ta' Braxia (9.45 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.)
Msida - Marina Road (9.45 a.m. to 12.45 p.m.)
Ta' Xbiex - Triq ix-Xatt and Triq l-Abate Rigord (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
Gzira - Triq ix-Xatt will be two-way traffic (8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.)

Note: While Marina Road is closed, Valletta and Msida may be accessed from Hamrun, via Blata l-Bajda