Like this site:
[ ?] Subscribe To This Site



|
|
Nine Marathon
Training Tips - The Marathon Guide That Will Help You Succeed
Planning to run a marathon?
Then you'd better get some marathon training tips!
|
At 26.2 miles, running a marathon is everything but a walk in the park.
The average person probably thinks we have got a few screws loose.
Who in their
right mind spends their Sunday mornings to get up at six o'clock in the
morning to go for a three-hour run, for example?
But when you are a marathon
runner, you know there is a lot of satisfaction in both the training
and the marathon itself.
A lot of pain as well... :) But completing your marathon after a long
period of training is
incredibly satisfying.
Training for a marathon requires a great deal of commitment and
preparation. It's not something you just do or can easily take
shortcuts in.
Reasonably trained, fit people can complete a 10k or even a half
marathon
with relatively minimal training. Not so with the marathon. You can't just "wing it"
and see how it goes on the day.
Even seasoned runners look for marathon training tips that will make it
easier to prepare and do the marathon.
So, I have tried to list, what I think are the most important marathon training tips
on this page. I hope this marathon guide will help you get ready for
your marathon!
First of all, let's have a look at the articles available in this section:
By the way... can you answer "yes" to the
questions in this video? Then you are probably ready to hit that goal
time in your next marathon.
Note, that this video focuses on trying to hit a specific goal time.
You don't need to be able to answer "yes" to all these questions in
order to finish a marathon. But if you want to race
your marathon, then you'd better answer "yes" to all of them!
Marathon Training Tip #1: Be
Realistic
When you start training for a marathon, you first need to assess your
current running abilities.
Have you been running a long time or are you
a beginner?
Do you run 25-30 miles each week? Or much more? Or less?
Do you take the time to
track your mileage?
The first marathon training tip is to be
realistic. When you are a novice runner, I can recommend
training for at least twelve months before even thinking about doing a
marathon. Also check out this article:
How to Run a
Marathon - The Six Things I Thought You Should Know
Sure, you can do a marathon quicker than that. You can go from zero
training to a marathon in as much as 3-4 months. Depends on your goals.
Do you just
want to complete a marathon, do you want to run one or do you want to
race one?
As I said before,
you can get from zero to hero in three or four months. Many go this
route. But many don't run ever after. For long-term health and fitness
it is much better to first run for a year and do some shorter races.
Then, after that, get ready for your marathon.
The marathon is a tough event. Marathon training is tough as well. You
need to do regular long runs. If you start marathon training without a
good running base and with a time goal in mind you are very likely to
end up injured.
Also, make sure you have got realistic goals in mind. Use my marathon
pace page to work out what a likely marathon time
would be.
The marathon
calculator page has got some useful marathon
calculators which will help a lot in determining a reasonable goal.
And have you heard of the Yasso
800 by any chance? It's a marathon pace workout
with a twist, make sure you read up on it!
Marathon Training Tip #2:
Long Runs
The second tip in this marathon guide concerns long runs. In order to
do 26.2 miles you need to do lots of long runs. General
advice is to do about 5-6 runs of 20 miles or a maximum of 3 hours.
Don't do this
and you will regret it!
Why?
Because of
The Wall. You will run into The Wall at about mile 20 (or
earlier) if you are underprepared.
It is the moment marathon runners dread.
The moment their body system
needs to move from burning easily available glycogen to hard to
burn fat.
Running lots of long runs at a slower, easy pace will make your fuel
burning processes a lot more efficiently.
Long runs are, without a doubt, the most demanding part of the
marathon.
I happen to know a great shortcut to doing long runs. You learn more
about it in Marathon
Training Secrets. It is a helpful marathon guide that will
help
you prepare optimally for your marathon.
"I Love This Marathon Guide. It's Really Good. I Don't Get It. You Are Giving This Away for Free??? I Should Have Had This Years Ago. It's Never Been So Easy!"
Grab "Marathon Training Secrets" NOW. Run Your Marathon With Confidence. |
|
|
"Thank you for these emails! As a beginner runner I am really getting a lot of valuable help from your knowledge!"
Joe
"Loving the tips! Loving them all. Keep it up …"
Kursti
|
Long
runs will get you to the starting line
Marathon Training Tip #3: Use
a Good Marathon Running Program
Is your marathon running program any good?
Do you know?
Can you tell a good running program from a mediocre one?
When you are training for a marathon, you'd better use the best
marathon running program available. Just think about it. You are
spending an awful lot of time preparing for your marathon.
Months and months and months.
With all that time invested, you owe it to yourself to pick a great
marathon running program.
What are the ingredients to a good marathon running program?
Well, it builds up your training in training blocks, also known as
periodization.
It builds up your mileage, but not so much that you are tired by the
time race day comes along.
In my mini-series "Ace
Your Marathon" I share all the ingredients you need to
make your marathon a success.
Marathon Training Tip #4:
Middle - Long Runs
If you are anything like the regular runner, you would typically do
your long run (16-20 miles) in the weekend. I can highly recommend
doing a second long run, slightly shorter (13-16 miles) mid-week. You
need to build up that exposure to longer runs.
Now, I don't want to deal with all the specifics and the science
around it.
But I told you about The
Wall before.
Not pretty!
Basically your body runs on different types of fuel.
One
is a fast-burning fuel
which gives you a lot of quick energy, but you can run out of quickly
(glycogen).
The other fuel is a
slow-burning one (fat).
You can run on it for a long time, but it is harder to burn it.
When your body has to chance fuel types... That's
that moment that people meet "the man with the hammer" or "run into the
marathon wall".
Suddenly they have run out of the fast-burning fuel and
need to transition to the slow-burning fuel. And their bodies go
through a lot of pain doing it.
Basically everytime you go
longer than 90 minutes is a time you condition your body a little bit
better to burning the slow-burning fuel.
Do it often enough
and using the slow-burning fuel becomes easier and easier for your
body! So, don't just do a weekend long run, add in a mid-week mid-long
run as well!
Marathon Training Tip #5: Be
Consistent
The fifth tip in this marathon guide is about consistency. Be
consistent with your training. Run consistently and be well
aware of your abilities, and you will enter the race with confidence in
yourself.
Get yourself a good marathon training schedule, or set one up
yourself. But whatever you do, try to stick to it. Don't skip too many
workouts.
You do need
uninterrupted training.
I am not talking about having to run every day of the week. I mean run
four or five times a week. Every week. For months. The best results
really come from consistency.
So, have you got a baby on the
way? Are you moving house? Any other big events in your life? Then take
into account that this will eat into your marathon training schedule.
Don't think
your superhuman.
I moved house three times in the last fifteen years. Every time I took
off time from running regularly for about two months. I still ran
occassionally (once or twice a week). This more or less helps you
maintain a certain base of fitness. But
every time it was just too busy
to be doing much more running training.
Rotterdam
Marathon
|
Same happened when my kids were born.
The last
thing you want to be
thinking of is a marathon training program!
Especially when you are waking up
multiple times during the night!
Just don't do it to yourself.
Do your marathon in a more stable period.
Of course, we are all busy all the time. But generally we can fit marathon
training into our lives.
Marathon training does require some careful planning and some
sacrifices along the way. But in the case of big events coming up... my
advice would be to just forget about it!
Yes, if you want to run the run of Phidippides then
you'd better get consistent and put in the training.... learn more
about this Greek guy on the history
of the marathon page.
Marathon Training Tip #6:
Taper
Marathon training gets you very tired. That's why it is absolutely
essential that you taper to get your body fresh and fully
prepared for
race-day. When you do traditional high-mileage marathon
training Your last 20-miler should be at least 3 weeks out from the big
day.
Those last 3 weeks you should cut back your mileage considerably. Any
last-minute hard push to get extra mileage in will back-fire because it
will only get you more tired on the day of the race.
Many of us, for whatever reason, run out of time. We didn't get
that last 20-miler in at the right time. Many of us make the mistake of
then doing it 2 weeks out, or 1 week out from the race. Don't ever think it
is better to do the
long run, than to do a proper taper!
Nothing is further from the truth. Do your taper properly. Only then
will you get to the big day well-rested. It's no use dolng that extra
long run if it gets you to the starting line exhausted.
Also check out the marathon
taper page which provides what I think is a pretty
complete guide on marathon tapering.
Marathon Training Tip #7:
Marathon Diet
A healthy diet is critical for marathon training. Eat plenty of carbs,
especially complex carbs.
Lower
fat diets are best, but you need to get
a bit of fat in. Fat has been getting a bad rap for a long time, but as
long as you get good fats from sources like olive oil, nuts and
avocados you are doing well. Just stay away from the sugar and greasy,
fatty foods.
Drinking
plenty of fluids is very important. Not only during training, also in
the last few days prior to the race and during the race itself.
In
essence, make sure you eat healthy. Your
training is a real assault on
your body. In order to arm your body better, you need to take in
healthy foods.
Still
you may experience feelings
of lethargy and tiredness during your demanding marathon training. I
have found
that a smart supplement like Natural
Energy can
give me the extra boost I need.
Make sure you don't use the marathon as an
opportunity to lose weight. Well, let me re-phrase that. It is very
likely that you will lose weight when doing your marathon training. But
don't go on a
"starve myself"-diet and do demanding marathon training.
Your body needs the nutrients to keep itself going. Otherwise your
running will suffer.
During the week before the race, you should increase
your carbohydrate and fluid intake. This is known as carbo-loading and
another important component of optimal preparation for your marathon.
Eat a good meal the night before
the race without overstuffing yourself. Eat carbohydrates
along
with some protein. You want to be light on your feet with plenty of
energy.
Also check out some marathon
training nutrition tips.
Marathon Training Tip #8:
Train Eating While Running
Coming to tip #8 in your marathon guide, let's talk about eating while
running. When you run the marathon you need to replenish during the
race. It is
best to practice eating while running during your long training runs.
First of all because it sometimes requires
a bit of technique, second
because you need to get
familiar with the types of food you can and
cannot handle during your run.
Experiment with some foods like bananas, sports bars and energy gels.
Also consider sports drinks like Gatorade.
Do all
the experimenting before your marathon, not during! Don't
let all that
hard work go to waste because you decided to get adventurous on race
day with some food that you had not had experience with before that
gives you amazing stomach cramps!!!
Marathon Training Tip #9:
Believe in Yourself
Possibly the most important marathon training tip to remember is to
believe in yourself. Prepare yourself mentally. A positive mental
attitude is more important than many other factors.
When you have come to a point during your training or during the
marathon when you are so tired you can't feel your legs, you are so
winded your chest hurts and you think you just can't go on, that is
when your mental attitude becomes critical. You will need to think
positively and know that the pain is just temporary.
Use the tips you have found in my marathon
pacing page, the page that helps you define your
marathon race strategy.
Then execute on your plan!
You can finish the race! You must believe in yourself and know that you
can accomplish great things.
I hope the marathon training tips in this marathon guide helped you.
The marathon requires serious commitment. Just think of all the time
you will be spending training for it.
So, make sure you read up on marathoning as much as you can.
A good start is my Marathon
Training Secrets eBook. It will help give
you the edge you need.
"I Love This Marathon Guide. It's Really Good. I Don't Get It. You Are Giving This Away for Free??? I Should Have Had This Years Ago. It's Never Been So Easy!"
Grab "Marathon Training Secrets" NOW. Run Your Marathon With Confidence. |
|
|
"Thank you for these emails! As a beginner runner I am really getting a lot of valuable help from your knowledge!"
Joe
"Loving the tips! Loving them all. Keep it up …"
Kursti
|
Have a Question about Running a Marathon?
Do you have a question about running a marathon? Ask it and I and other visitors to best-running-tips.com can give you advice!
IMPORTANT: Make sure you provide sufficient information. What do you want to know, what are your current circumstances, are you already doing exercise/running at the moment, if so, how much, how often, etc., etc.
The more information you provide, the better answer you get.
Questions of only 1 or 2 lines will normally be deleted because it is simply too hard to give a good answer.
What Other Visitors Have Asked
Click below to see questions from other visitors to this page...
Energy Problems during Marathon Training Not rated yet I have been running for around two years now and I am right in the middle of training for my first marathon in about two months time. I run 5 times a week, …
Training for First Marathon Not rated yet Hello, I am a 43 year old male - I do no running or training, I would like to complete a marathon 12 months from now - how should I start training for …
I Need a Good Marathon Running Program Not rated yet I am devastated. I ran my second marathon last weekend.
I ran a spring marathon as well, but at about the 19-20 mile mark my legs cramped up ... I could …
First Marathon for Veteran Runner Not rated yet I am 68 years old. I have been a runner for 33 years doing mostly 5 and 10K race with one 1/2 marathon. I usually run a 5K in 25-27 minutes and the 10K …
18 Months To A Marathon Doable? Not rated yet Is it feasible - through hard work and determination of course - for a beginner to be ready for a marathon within 18 months?
At this point I'll be …
First Marathon Horror Experience Not rated yet Having just completed my first marathon I would appreciate some advice. I had trained upto 20 miles for this run and was assured that the event / cheering …
Running Cramps During the Marathon Not rated yet When I run marathons I have this one problem.
I always cramp up badly by about mile 20.
How can I figure out what to do?
Don't know how to fix this. … Click here to write your own.
Home
›
Marathon Training Tips
Like this page:
|
|
|
|
New! Comments
Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below.