You’ve been training for weeks (see your training calendar). Gradually increased the distance of your long runs. Paid special attention to recovery days. And monitored your fluid balance on an almost hourly basis. What more can you do to make sure you’re fully prepared for that upcoming marathon?

Plenty. The yawning marathon distance is way too vast to master with just a few basics. You need sophisticated strategies—marathon secrets, if you will—from marathon veterans with years of successful races under their belts ... er, on their running shoes.

To help you enjoy your best possible marathon—whether your first or 100th, whether you’re aiming for a sub-3-hour effort or merely to finish—we’ve talked with a group of marathon experts and assembled their collective marathon wisdom.

Then we put the most important stuff first, where you can give it the attention it deserves. Later, we share even more marathon information to help you have the kind of race you’ve been dreaming about.

The Top 10

These are the strategies that our experts agreed are the most crucial to marathon success. Make them the foundation of your marathon preparation.

1 Practice, practice, practice. You don’t get to test yourself at the marathon distance as often as you do at, say, 5-K. But you can do plenty of homework. Make sure you log five or six 2½- to 3-hour runs (one every other weekend, at most) in the three or four months before your race. And schedule your last long run at least two weeks before the big day.

2 Do your course work. If one is available, order a video of the race. Talk to people who’ve run it. And when you roll into town, drive the course. Cover every meter, from start to finish, at least once, noting landmarks and difficult sections so you can visualize your race in detail before you toe the starting line.

3 Drink up—and up and up. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking 5 to 12 ounces of fluids every 15 to 20 minutes during a marathon. But that can be a challenge, so practice during your long runs. Just as you can train your body to run longer distances, you can teach it to absorb more fluid (and therefore perform better) by gradually increasing the amount you consume during training.

4 Taper your to-do list. Sure, you’re training less the week before the race, but that doesn’t mean you should fill your downtime with chores. Don’t clean the garage. Don’t even alphabetize your books. Just kick back, relax and focus on the only task that counts—replacing your heavy training with some very heavy rest.

5 Race in your training shoes. Your body learns what you teach it—no more, no less. So, if you wear training shoes during your long runs, your body grows accustomed to running for hours on end in, yes, training shoes. Bottom line: If you wear trainers to train, wear them in the marathon. No trying to pull a fast one with racing flats. At most, you can gamble with lightweight trainers—but only if you’ve worn them on several long runs without a problem.

6 Avoid the shock of the new. You want to be “in a rut” on race day. That means wearing not just the same shoes, but also the same socks, shorts and singlet you’ve worn without a hitch on your long runs. And it means eating the same foods and drinking the same fluids you did prior to and during your most successful long runs. You know the expression, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”? It wasn’t coined for marathoners. Your marathon-day mantra: Nothing ventured, nothing pained.

7 Prime the sponge. That is, drink two 8-ounce glasses of water or sports drink exactly 2 hours before the gun. Though you may be the last person in the Porta Potti before the start, the water will have passed through your system by that time, and, even better, your body will be primed to accept the fluids you drink during the race.

8 Eat before you run. Take in at least 300 calories—if not a full breakfast—an hour before the start. Doesn’t matter what you eat—yogurt, an energy bar, green eggs and ham—as long as you’ve practiced eating the same foods an hour before your long training runs, and you know your stomach can handle them. This pre-race meal will prevent your blood sugar from dropping and will fend off hunger later in the race.

9 Warm up—but don’t wear yourself out. Be a minimalist. At most, jog very easily for about 15 minutes, then stretch your hamstrings, quadriceps, calves and lower back for another quarter of an hour. With about 15 minutes to go before the start, do a few strides if you want. But no more—you’ll warm up plenty in the early stages of the race.

10 Find your pace—then pull back. You know how 8:30s feel in training. But do you know how they feel when your heart’s pounding louder than the zillions of waffle soles around you? Here’s a hint: They feel more like 9:30s. In fact, thanks to race-day adrenaline rush, any pace will feel far easier than normal, which could mean you’ll go out too fast. So make a conscious effort to pull back until you hit the 10-mile mark. Remember, any seconds you lose early on are minutes you save later in the race.

30 More Strategies

Hey, the marathon covers 26.2 miles, so it can’t hurt to have more than 10 great strategies. Here are 30 more just to provide some additional insurance. You don’t need to follow every one of these, but they can only help, so why not?

11 Opt for softness as well as support. The harder your shoe soles, the more your quadriceps have to work to absorb the shock of impact when your feet hit the ground—and the quicker they become fatigued. So when you choose a shoe for training and racing, pick one with maximum cushioning as well as a supportive ride.

12 Run long, but not too long. You can put in 2½ hour training runs to your heart’s content—and your legs’ consternation. But never run more than 3 hours straight in training, whether you plan to run a 2:42 or a 4:24 come race day. At around 3 hours, you reach a point of diminishing returns, when you’re too fatigued to get any more benefit out of the run.

13 Snack while you stride. Long training runs represent great opportunities to practice refueling on the fly. So pack some pick-me-ups—energy bars or gels, hard candy, gummy bears—to munch on along the way. If your body responds by getting pumped, not cramped, plan to eat the same things during your race.

14 Save your race-day shoes. Once you find a shoe that fits well and feels good throughout your long training runs, take care not to wear it out before the big day arrives. Your best bet: Set aside the wear-tested shoes for race day and buy a new pair for your last month of training.

15 Drink as much as you sweat. Weigh yourself before and after your long training runs to see how much water weight you lose as a gauge of how much more you need to replace en route. For instance, if you lose 3 pounds (48 ounces) during a 3-hour training run, you need to learn to drink an additional 48 ounces of fluid during a 3-hour race-or, 8 ounces per half-hour-to stay well hydrated.

16 Make sure your socks match your feet. Blisters are caused by friction that results from either a surplus or a surfeit of space inside your shoes. That’s why people who can never find shoes narrow enough should wear thicker socks (to fill any extra space), and folks with frying pans for feet should opt for thin socks (to allow as much room in their shoes as possible). Just be sure to test this sock strategy in training.

17 Let the weights wait. If you strength-train, shelve your routine about a month before your marathon, so your legs feel fresh as you approach the big day. Instead of lifting weights, do pushups, situps, dips—any exercise in which your body weight provides the resistance—to maintain your muscles without sapping your strength.

18 Insert an insert. Placing inserts (prescription orthotics or anatomically correct insoles) in your shoes can help keep your feet in the proper position as you run. This is particularly important during long runs and races when your leg muscles begin to fatigue. An insert will maintain correct foot and arch position, improving your efficiency and reducing shin and knee pain.

19 Wear shorts with a big pocket. The people who make running clothes are beginning to understand that you don’t always want the fastest-looking, most minimalist racing shorts. During the marathon, in fact, you probably want shorts that will allow you to carry an aspirin or two, a few hard candies, maybe some gel packs, and let’s not forget that oversized plastic hotel key. Don’t buy these shorts at the Expo the day before the marathon, however. Buy them several months before the marathon, and try them out on several of your long training runs.

20 Don’t eat more the week before. Because your training is lighter than normal the week before a marathon, you’re burning fewer calories than usual. Which means you can load up on energy by eating the way you normally do (60 percent carbohydrates, 15 percent protein and 25 percent fat). You don’t need to carbo-load for a week.

21 Anticipate fatigue. You’re running 26.2 miles, after all. Your body’s bound to protest. But you can prepare yourself emotionally for the tough times by including negative possibilities like fatigue or muscle tightness—problems most marathoners encounter—when you visualize your race beforehand. That way, you’ll be better equipped to handle those troubles when they occur.

22 Resist downtime doubts. The last three days before the race, you can’t run much, you can’t gorge yourself, and it seems almost impossible to sleep or sit still—which means you’re vulnerable to those nagging self-doubts that often plague marathoners before the race. Put the brakes on those racing thoughts with restful activities. Watch videos of your favorite action flicks, for instance. Better yet, watch them with a nonrunning friend. Just make sure you give your mind a break while you’re resting your body.

23 Do the math. First-time marathoners take note: Use one of the following equations to determine your predicted marathon time from your current 5-K, 10-K or half-marathon time:
 

• M time = 5-K time x 9.489
• M time = 10-K time x 4.567
• M time = half-marathon time x 2.078

Once you’ve determined your predicted marathon time, divide by 26.2 to get your predicted marathon pace. Now—and this is the important part—run the first 18 miles at 10 seconds per mile slower than this predicted pace. High-five the volunteers, bond with your neighbors . . . then pick it up for the final 8. You’ll finish with a flourish, and have a fabulous time in the process.

24 Select the salty stuff. Sports drinks, not margaritas. Unlike plain water, sports drinks contain sodium, which improves fluid retention and encourages you to drink more. So to get tanked up in advance, reach for a high-tech hydrator rather than water. If you can’t stand the taste of sports drinks, have a bagel or a few saltines with your water to get your sodium the old-fashioned way.

25 Go easy on the pre-race partying. Some folks—the irrepressibly fast and fun-loving marathoner Bill Rodgers among them—feed off the frenzy associated with a large marathon. But most runners find that an overly charged environment leeches energy from their own precious stores. So if you’re unsure which camp you belong in, lay low. Have a nice, quiet dinner. Watch a movie in your hotel room. And visualize a Rodgers-quality performance the next morning.

26 Be choosy about your pre-race pasta dinner. Mama’s spaghetti marinara gets the nod. But steer clear of lasagna (which tends to have more fat than carbs, thanks to the cheese) and garlic bread (which is always slathered in pace-padding butter).

27 Undercut the Curse. Women, if you get your period on race day, pop an aspirin or ibuprofen (whichever works best for you), sip a cup of chamomile tea to relax your abdominal muscles ... and try to ignore it. Nervous about the flow? Just tape a tampon or two to the underside of your race number—and go.

28 Go ahead, have a java. If you’re used to drinking coffee before your long runs, don’t let your roomie shame you into abstaining on race morning. Sure, caffeine’s a diuretic, which means it normally promotes fluid loss through increased urination. But here’s the thing: Your body ignores caffeine’s signal when you’re exercising. So tank up.

29 Gear up with a singlet, shorts and a microfiber T-shirt. If the temperature’s below freezing and the start is early, heat isn’t likely to become a problem. So wear a microfiber T-shirt (not cotton!) under your singlet. However, if the mercury’s at 35 and climbing at start time, pull the shirt on over your singlet so you can toss it when you warm up.

30 Respect the sun and the heat. Al Roker’s calling for some serious rays? Before leaving for the race, slather on sunblock, put on a light-colored hat (it won’t absorb the sun, and it will hold the water you pour over your head) and smooth baby oil on your soon-to-be-battered feet to help ward off blisters.

31 Stay calm at the start. Try to ignore the electricity coursing through the crush of runners at the line. Take deep, belly-rising breaths to calm your body, relax your mind and supply your muscles with plenty of performance-enhancing oxygen. Close your eyes, visualize a serene, soothing place, and wait there patiently for the gun to go off. If you’re relaxed at the outset, you’re less likely to go out recklessly fast.

32 Listen to your body. Crucial as pace is in a marathon, your mile splits won’t mean much if you’re not running comfortably, at a pace you can maintain. So wear a watch if you want to, but use it mostly to rein yourself in. Every time you get the urge to eye your Ironman, check in on your body as well.

33 Don’t try to squeeze 26.2 miles into your head. Instead of focusing on the full distance, mentally break the marathon into smaller segments so it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. For instance, you might think of the first portion as a favorite 10-mile training run, then envision yourself running a 6.2-mile (10-K) course you really enjoy. This leaves you with only 10 miles to the finish.

34 Scout for tangents. You remember Euclid—the “shortest distance between two points is a straight line” guy. Course certifiers certainly do. When they measure marathon courses, they calculate the shortest distance from start to finish, measuring the far inside of every turn—which is exactly where you want to be. Every time you round a curve, scope out the flow of the course ahead and position yourself so you can take the inside (“run the tangent”) of the next turn.

35 Ask for ‘ade. Studies have proven that marathoners who take in about 200 calories of carbohydrates per hour during long runs or races experience less fatigue and finish stronger than the hapless folks who don’t. If you sip sports drinks instead of water at the rate of 5 to 12 ounces every 15 to 20 minutes, you’ll get more than enough carbs to curb your fatigue.

36 Minimize your squint. Intently squooshing up your face requires more energy than you can spare over 26.2 miles. So if you have sensitive eyes or are allergic to dust or pollen, shield your eyes behind a pair of shades.

37 Pack the sidelines at mile 16. Recruit your most extroverted friends and family to line the course between miles 16 and 20, where many runners begin to feel fatigued. And instruct your fans to holler, high-five you, even huff along beside you for several hundred yards, so you can ride that tide of positive energy through the final 10-K.

38 Speed up if you tighten up. That’s right: stretch out your legs by picking up speed—for 2 minutes, tops—then settle back into your former pace. Sometimes a slight pace change is all you need to snap out of a mental and physical funk. Pick a downhill stretch if you can, and really lengthen your stride.

39 Regroup with a group. Plan A: If you’re flagging physically and mentally, run with a group of similarly paced people, even if it means turning up the steam to catch that quartet up ahead. After all, misery loves company—especially the kind that can pull a weary marathoner along. Plan B: If you still feel sluggish, push to the front of the bunch and lead the charge. The change of pace and the lift you get from leading may be just what the race doctor ordered.

40 Conserve your energy. To put it plainly, slip in behind someone running a similar pace and, yes, draft. It’s not illegal. It’s not even poor form. On the contrary, it’s just plain smart.