Ester Navarrete’s keys to marathon success

Esther Navarrete received Runedia (Sports World) at the headquarters of Cougar in Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona) to share his secrets as a marathon runner. In Paris 2024 Games the great goal of a lifelong practice. “It was something incrediblea dream that I will remember for the rest of my life. I still keep everything in my retina as if it happened yesterday,” said the 34-year-old Galician. “I came with the Games very idealized and it wasn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed it a lot,” he confessed with a big smile.

“My idea was to meet all the athletes at the same time, but our test is the last and we came at the end of the second week,” he lamented. “I missed a lot of people to see, because they finished competing and were outside the Olympic Village. Of course, you also see that the important athletes are people like you. They are next to you as if it is the most normal that thing and that’s very special,” he said.

He route of the marathon Paris 2024 is very difficultbut Navarrete did not notice it. “You are excited to be there that the problems are less problems. It is bad, but I did not suffer and I did not notice the hardness of the route. I lived through it all with great intensity and emotion. I had an expectation that it would be hell and it’s not that bad. In my city (Vigo) we have incredible slopes and I prepared well. Maybe that’s why it’s more bearable than I thought,” he said.

Navarrete has a personal best marathon time of 2h24’40 achieved in Seville in February of this year. A time so far away world record of Ruth Cepngetich of 2h09’56 achieved at the Chicago Marathon on October 13 of this year. “It’s crazy. I continued the race and when I saw the partials I did I couldn’t believe it. I honestly thought I would be paying for the high rate at which it came out, but that was not the case. what he did It is stratospheric and inhuman“But I don’t want to think badly,” he says. “Also, I was amazed to see how he outlasted the elite male runners. “It was amazing,” he added, still with that day. More and more female level and this encourages better scores to achieve. At the Spanish level we clearly notice this. Many runners were fighting to get the Olympic marathon place and that made us improve each other,” he explained, seeing the positive side of the competition.

“My purpose Now it is to continue improving my marks in the half marathon and marathon and to represent Spain in the major championships,” he confesses with hope. I want the next European and World Championships and I’m not ruling out reaching the Los Angeles Games 2028. I will be 38 years old, but the experience factor adds a lot to the marathon,” he said, convinced that he will be able to repeat his Olympic experience at the end of the next cycle.

Ester Navarrete’s 10 essential tips for running a marathon

1) Enjoy the process: Finishing a marathon is a very difficult challenge that requires a lot of preparation. If you make the journey fun, you make the sacrifices less expensive to make. Enjoy the weeks of preparation, don’t obsess over training and give yourself breaks whenever you need them. Race day is just the end of the road, the complete experience begins three months before the first specific training.

2) Nutrition is very important: The first thing we think about when we start preparing for a marathon is running and training, but this is not the only important thing. We also need to spend time preparing a nutritional strategy and taking care of our daily diet. Food is our fuel and we must fill the tank whenever we need more energy while running. This way, we will be more efficient and reduce the risk of injury. It is also very important to train supplies and nutrition with gels, so we will come to the day of the race with a clear strategy and know that our stomach will assimilate everything well. It is very important to put yourself in the hands of a professional nutritionist for advice.

3) Don’t wear anything on race day: This is something so obvious that we often forget. On race day, don’t wear anything. You will be running for hours and any friction can ruin your result. It is important to arrive at the starting line of the marathon with the guarantee of knowing that everything we carry will work well for us. This includes running shoes, the most important of all.

4) Labor force: We spend a lot of time training for running, but we skip strength work because we don’t have time or we’re lazy. That is one of the biggest mistakes we can make. Strength will allow us to go further and at a better speed. If you don’t feel like working out in the gym, there are other options to get stronger, such as doing strength sets or multi-jumps. There are many other options that a good physical preparation professional can recommend.

5) Don’t go overboard on hydration: Hydration is a very important aspect to perform well on marathon day, but you don’t have to go to extremes. Drinking a little is bad and drinking too much can harm us. When you run a long race your body can experience a lot of demand, but you have to be careful. Drink at the aid stations, in small sips, at all the stations you can and slowly. There’s no point going the first 25 kilometers without drinking anything and then drinking a whole bottle at once at every station. The stomach is very delicate and can harm us and even prevent us from finishing. It is also very important to stay well hydrated in our daily life, but with the necessary drinks that give us electrolytes and carbohydrates, but not sugars and sweeteners that do not add to our health.

6) It is important to warm up: Before running we need to prepare our muscles and joints. This is for race day and any training we do. Take care of your body and you will avoid many injuries.

7) Be patient: The marathon is a very difficult test that cannot be tackled without good preliminary preparation. This preparation usually takes at least three months and during this time there are always good and bad days. It is very important to be patient. Improvements happen little by little, working every day and taking care of our body. There is no need to speed up the process, everything takes time.

8) Seek professional help: If you want to do things right you need to put yourself in the hands of professional people who know how to guide you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice. Coaches are people who have trained for years to guide the steps of runners. They know the loads that should be applied at all times so that your performance can increase without getting hurt. And it is very important that these coaches are qualified and we have a guarantee of their knowledge.

9) Visiting the physiotherapist: Marathon preparation requires a lot of wear and tear on our body and we need to take care of ourselves. Regular visits to the physiotherapist will help you avoid injuries and improve your performance. Training consists of running and recovery. If we do not recover properly, our body will not assimilate the loads correctly and will break down.

10) Be careful: When we reach the starting line of a marathon it is because we have spent months preparing and working hard. Our body was ready to try it and the first kilometers seemed very easy. And so should they. We need to be comfortable in order to reserve energy for what comes next. It is in this moment of euphoria, when we believe that we are invincible, that we must be careful and not speed up more than necessary. Although it doesn’t seem like it, if we are fast at the start, we will pay dearly in the last part and the dreaded “wall” at kilometer 30 can be a real struggle.

Deep test of Ester Navarrete

Shoes to compete in: Puma Nitro Deviate Elite 3

Training shoes: Puma Speed ​​3

clock: Pace 3 Choirs

T-shirt: Top (sleeveless)

Nutrition: 226ers

Most used products: 226ers Nitro pro, 226ers Isotonic Drink, 226ers Isotonic Gel, 226ers Recovery Drink

How many gels do you take in a marathon? In total 4: a 226ers Isotonic with caffeine 30 minutes before the run, a normal 226ers Isotonic at km 10, a normal Isotonic at km 20 and the last Isotonic gel at km 35 can be normal or caffeinated depending on what want at that moment.

How many kilometers per week can you do when you are preparing for a marathon? My maximum is 170, but I usually hover around 150.

Favorite place to do the long run? Baiona (Vigo, Pontevedra)

What marathon would you like to run sometime in your life? Chicago

What brand do you think you can reach? My dream is to do 2h22′