0. The distance of a marathon is 26 miles or 42 kilometres.
1. Nuala liked the French marathon best because participants could eat ……………………… .
2. Dan will be running his first ever marathon in under …………………………….. in Brighton.
3. Nutrition is a technical word for the ……………………………. .
4. When runners take part in a marathon they lose a lot of water because of ……………………… .
5. Marathon runners usually get …………………………….. because of the rubbing of the shoes against the skin.
6. The good thing about a marathon in a big city is that there’s a large crowd ……………………………. you, which creates a party atmosphere.
7. It’s important for runners to break down the race in …………………………….. pieces of about three miles.
Dan: Hello, I’m Dan Walker Smith and in today’s programme I’m joined by Nuala O’Sullivan.
Nuala: Hi Dan.
Dan: Now in today’s programme Nuala and I are talking about marathons. These are the very long runs covering 26 miles or 42 kilometres (0). Now Nuala you’re a very experienced runner, so how many marathons have you run?
Nuala: Well I’ve actually run four Dan. I’ve run them in The Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and France.
Dan: OK, which was the best out of the four you did?
Nuala: Oh definitely France. I was running through the vineyards and you got little drinks of wine all the way along and there was steak and oysters (1) to eat as well. I mean it was just…it was a gourmet marathon; it was just fabulous.
Dan: That’s quite different from the normal marathons. You’re not going for a certain time; you’re going for an enjoyable experience.
Nuala: Well, I would say I was going for a good time because I wanted to enjoy myself, not a good time as in getting a fast time.
Dan: Ah very good, very good indeed. OK, well I’m running my first ever marathon in under a month’s time (2). I’m running the Brighton marathon on the south coast of England, so maybe you can give me some advice on that. Now I want to talk to you about nutrition and hydration. Everyone tells me that these are really important for long-distance running, so could you tell me a bit about them?
Nuala: Sure. Well nutrition is a technical word for the process of absorbing food (3). If food is nutritious, it’s good for your health.
Dan: OK, and what about hydration?
Nuala: Well, to hydrate something means to add water to it. So when you’re running, you have to consider hydration or how much water you’re taking in, because you’re going to lose a lot through sweat (4). So if you’re doing a lot of exercise, you can become dehydrated; that means becoming ill from not having enough water.
Dan: OK, I’ve been training since Christmas more or less, about four months now, and I’m definitely getting some pains when I’m doing my long runs.
Nuala: Oh what sort of pains do you get Dan, blisters (5)? They’re usually caused from rubbing or if you burn yourself. They’re very common in runners because your shoe might be rubbing against your foot and then that way you’d get a blister.
Dan: It’s more a muscular pain.
Nuala: So you probably need to stretch your legs more.
Dan: Well there are some of the physical problems for runners. But Nuala, how important is your mental attitude for running marathons?
Nuala: Oh I think it’s really important. And I think if you’re doing yours in a big city like Brighton, there’ll be lots of people out encouraging (6) you. It’s always nice to have a big crowd; it makes it a kind of party atmosphere. But the other thing to bear in mind is that 26 miles is a very long distance, so you might want to break it down into bite-sized (7) pieces. Bite-sized literally means something that is small enough to eat in one bite. So my advice would be: don’t think about running the whole 26 miles, just think of the next three miles in front of you.
Dan: OK well that sounds like great advice to me. And goodbye!
Nuala: Goodbye!
