The science of hitting the wall in the marathon 🏃♂️
Mechanisms and how to reduce risk.
Hitting the Wall in Marathon Running: An Integrative Psychophysiological and Durability-Based Review
Study Details
This narrative review examined the physiological and psychophysiological mechanisms behind “hitting the wall” in marathon running and proposed a durability-based framework for understanding late-race performance collapse 🔍
Key Findings
Here are the major mechanisms contributing to hitting the wall ⬇️
Glycogen depletion and fuelling failure 🍞
⚙️ Reduced CHO availability, increased reliance on fat oxidation
🏃 Reduced capacity to sustain marathon pace
Gastrointestinal dysfunction 🤢
⚙️ Impaired CHO and fluid tolerance, reduced nutrient absorption
💧 Disruption of fuelling and hydration strategies
Thermoregulatory strain 🌡️
⚙️ Hyperthermia, dehydration, cardiovascular drift
📉 Increased physiological cost and pace reduction
Neuromuscular fatigue and biomechanical deterioration 🦵
⚙️ Reduced force production, impaired stretch-shortening cycle, deterioration in running economy
📈 Reduced movement efficiency and increased energetic cost
Pacing errors 🧠
⚙️ Excessive early physiological stress and accelerated resource depletion
🐢 Earlier onset of fatigue and late-race slowing
Plus, these strategies to reduce risk of hitting the wall ⬇️
CHO availability 🎯
🧬 Preserves carbohydrate availability, supports blood glucose, and delays excessive reliance on fat oxidation
✅ Practise race fuelling in long runs; individualise intake to tolerance
Legal ergogenic aids 🎯
🧬 Caffeine may lower perceived exertion, improve alertness and focus, and support endurance performance
✅ Practise caffeine dose and timing in training; avoid unfamiliar or excessive use on race day
Gastrointestinal tolerance 🎯
🧬 Improves tolerance to carbohydrate and fluid intake and lowers the risk of fuelling disruption
✅ Rehearse gels and drinks in long runs; avoid untested products on race day
Thermoregulatory strain 🎯
🧬 Reduces cardiovascular and thermal strain, improves heat dissipation, and may lower perceived effort
✅ Use heat acclimation before hot races; consider pre-cooling or per-cooling
Hydration-related stress 🎯
🧬 Limits excessive dehydration while reducing the risk of overdrinking and hyponatraemia
✅ Estimate sweat rate and tailor fluid intake to conditions and individual needs
Neuromuscular resilience 🎯
🧬 Improves force production, running economy, and resistance to neuromuscular fatigue
✅ Include progressive strength work and marathon-specific muscular endurance sessions
Durability 🎯
🧬 Enhances the ability to maintain running economy, physiological thresholds, pace stability, and performance during prolonged exercise
✅ Build long-run tolerance progressively and simulate late-race demands in training
Pacing regulation 🎯
🧬 Reduces early resource depletion and slows the build-up of metabolic, thermal, neuromuscular, and perceptual strain
✅ Set a realistic pace plan and avoid early surges
Monitoring and individualisation 🎯
🧬 Helps identify excessive strain, poor recovery, accelerated drift, or poor tolerance before performance declines
✅ Use HR, RPE, pace, symptoms, and athlete feedback to guide decisions
Conclusion
Hitting the wall should not be viewed simply as glycogen depletion, but as the cumulative failure of multiple interacting systems 🧱
Prevention requires an integrated strategy combining fuelling, gut training, hydration, heat preparation, strength training, pacing and marathon-specific long runs 🛡️
Reference
https://www.mdpi.com/2411-5142/11/3/291
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