The Irish Life Dublin Marathon 2026
Preparing for the mental and physical side of race week
There is something slightly strange about the final few days before a marathon. After months of training, long runs, early mornings and trying to fit everything around work and family, the big sessions are finally behind you. The taper has begun and there is suddenly very little left to do except wait. For many runners, that is when the mind becomes busier than the body, with thoughts about the weather, the race plan, whether enough training has been done and what might happen when Sunday finally arrives.
It is perfectly normal to feel excited and nervous at the same time. Something that has been part of your life for months is now very close, and the anticipation can sometimes make the marathon feel much bigger in your head than it actually is.
You've already done the work
The final 48 to 72 hours are not the time to prove your fitness. By this stage, the long runs and training sessions that have prepared you for the distance are already behind you, so there is little to be gained from squeezing in another hard session or trying to make up for something you think you should have done differently.
The same applies to food, kit and routines. If you have been training with a particular breakfast, hydration plan or pair of shoes, this is not the moment to start experimenting. Keep things familiar, organise what you need and allow yourself to arrive at the start line with the preparation you have already done. You don't need to become a better runner in the final few days. You simply need to give your body the chance to use what you've built.
When the marathon starts living in your head
Of course, that can be easier said than done. When an event matters to you, it can begin to occupy a surprising amount of mental space. You might find yourself going over the route, working out your pace, checking the forecast again or wondering whether you will sleep properly the night before. Before long, you can find yourself mentally running the marathon several times before you have even reached the start line.
There is no need to ignore those thoughts, but it can help to give yourself a break from them. Go for a familiar walk, spend some time away from your phone, meet a friend for coffee or simply do something ordinary that has nothing to do with running. The marathon is coming, but it doesn't need your attention every minute until it does.
Don't visualise a perfect race
Visualising a successful marathon can be useful, but there is another side to it that is worth considering. Rather than only imagining everything going exactly to plan, think about the moments when it becomes difficult and how you would like to respond.
At some point, your legs may feel heavy, the distance may seem a long way ahead or your mind may tell you that you've had enough. That doesn't mean something has gone wrong. Marathons have difficult sections, and knowing that beforehand can make them less of a surprise. You can picture yourself noticing your breathing, relaxing your shoulders, staying with your pace and focusing on the next section of the course rather than everything that remains.
You are not trying to convince yourself that the race will be easy. You are giving yourself something familiar to return to when it isn't.
The body can carry the pressure too
All of this mental preparation can show up physically. Runners are understandably focused on their legs in the weeks before a marathon, but the body can carry the anticipation in other ways too. Shoulders may become tighter, the jaw can clench, breathing can become shallower and sometimes there is simply a feeling of being unable to switch off.
You don't need to eliminate every nerve before race day. Excitement is part of taking on something like a marathon, and nervous energy is not necessarily a bad thing. It can simply be useful to notice what is happening rather than adding another layer of worry because you feel nervous. A few quieter moments, some familiar movement and paying attention to your breathing can help you come back to where you are rather than constantly thinking ahead to Sunday.
It doesn't have to be bigger than it is
A marathon can carry a huge amount of meaning. You may have a target time, be running for a charity, have family and friends waiting at the finish or have spent years thinking about taking on the distance. With all of that behind it, it is easy for one morning to start feeling like it has to prove something.
But underneath the crowds, the closed roads and thousands of runners around you, you are still going out for a long run on a Sunday morning. Your breakfast will be much the same, your shoes will go on in much the same way and your body already knows what running feels like. The event matters, but it doesn't need to carry the weight of everything you have done to get there.
The training is already part of your story. So are the early mornings, the difficult sessions, the runs that went brilliantly and the ones that didn't. None of that disappears because one race doesn't go exactly as planned.
What can you actually do?
There is no magic formula for the final days, which is probably a good thing. Keep doing what you know works for you, follow the routines you have practised and give yourself enough time to rest. Get your kit ready, know your travel plans and avoid creating unnecessary decisions at the last minute.
It can also be worth remembering that preparation doesn't always mean doing something. After months of asking your body to train and recover, giving yourself some quieter time is part of looking after it. Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is stop adding more to the list.
Where Love & Light fits in
This is where we see a place for complementary nervous system support alongside normal training and recovery. At Love & Light Ireland, we start by listening, explaining things simply and making sure you are comfortable rather than assuming that every runner needs the same thing.
Depending on what feels appropriate, that might involve Spinal Flow®, a gentle hands-on approach involving the spine and nervous system, Spinal Energetics™, which is hands-off and involves movement, breath and awareness, or Reiki, which offers another opportunity to slow down and rest.
These approaches are complementary to your normal preparation and recovery. They are not about promising a faster marathon or a particular result. For some runners, having a little time away from the noise and anticipation can simply be a useful way to pause and reconnect with themselves.
And after the marathon?
The finish line may be where the race ends, but it isn't necessarily where the experience ends for your body or your mind. After months of training followed by the intensity of race day, you might feel exhausted, delighted, emotional, disappointed or some mixture of all of them. There can also be a strange adjustment when the next long run is no longer sitting in the diary and the structure that has shaped your weeks suddenly disappears.
Recovery gives you an opportunity to pay attention to what you need after all that effort. Sometimes that means doing very little and enjoying the rest. Sometimes it means giving yourself some time and space to come out of training mode and reconnect with your body.
The journey matters too
When you eventually look back on your marathon, the race itself will only be one part of what you remember. There will be the mornings you got out of bed when you didn't want to, the long runs, the difficult days, the unexpected good ones and all the ordinary life that continued around your training.
You will have learned things about yourself along the way, perhaps without even noticing it at the time. You learn how your body responds to distance, how your mind reacts when things become uncomfortable and what helps you keep going when a plan doesn't quite go the way you expected.
That is why the journey is always inspiring and insightful. The finish time is one part of the experience, but it cannot contain everything that went into getting you there.
As Dublin gets closer, trust the work you have already put in and try not to let the event become bigger than it needs to be. When Sunday comes, you have a long run ahead of you, a city around you and a lot of people sharing the same road. Take it as it comes, one part at a time.
Body & Sole: Mind + Body
If you're running in the Irish Life Dublin Marathon, Love & Light Ireland will be at the Body & Sole section of the Marathon Expo, offering 15 and 30 minute sessions for runners who would like a little time away from the noise and excitement before race day.
The Expo is exciting, but with the crowds, information and anticipation of Sunday all around you, it can also be a lot to take in. Our sessions offer somewhere to step away for a while, take a breath and reconnect with both mind and body.
You don't need to know anything about Spinal Flow®, Spinal Energetics™ or Reiki beforehand. Come over, have a chat, ask your questions and we'll explain everything simply and make sure you're comfortable. Don't forget to book in advance as spaces are limited!