Jes Reynolds…Your Fitness Coach

Almost everyone who’s into fitness goes running. Some people prefer the treadmill or the trail to the open road, and some people are just cruising up and down the basketball court.

One thing I see people fail to pay attention to is their running form. Proper running form makes for an effective, efficient stride that results in the ability to achieve higher speeds and maximize endurance. Take a look at this brief video to better understand the variables involved in proper and effective running form.

Your marathon training schedule should be based on your current conditioning level, your chosen marathon pace, and the time you’ve allotted for training. I found this web address from Runners World to assist you in making your marathon as enjoyable as possible (not possible!).

This page has everything you need to train for a marathon including expert advice, training workouts, and training schedules based on your level of conditioning. Let me know if you have any questions.

Good Luck!

If you’ve read my personal experience and still feel compelled to run a marathon, I compiled a breif list of basics you can use to get acclimated to the idea.

Spring and summer offersmany competitive outdoor opportunities and one favorite is the marathon. The idea of completing a marathon is a goal for many casual and competitive runners alike, but to go through the months of training required to complete the event requires so much time and focus that only a small percentage of running enthusiasts achieve this goal.

A marathon is 26.2 miles long and according to MarathonGuide.Com, more than 403,000 runners completed a marathon in the USA in 2007 with the average time and age for participants being 4:41:33 and 40 years old respectively. As you can see, even finishing an event that requires just under 5 hours of continual physical exertion is an accomplishment of which all participants should be very proud.

If you’ve decided you would like to attempt this daunting task, remember an event of this magnitude requires a significant time commitment, planning, and dedication. If you’re out of shape or running a marathon for the first time, it takes even more work more work to get yourself conditioned enough to go the distance. Before you even step onto the road (or treadmill), there are some important parts of your training plan that should be considered.

Training Schedule
First, decide how many months in advance you’ll start your training. A person who is already running on a regular basis typically begins training about 3 months from the day of the race. If you’ve made finishing a marathon you’re means of losing weight and getting back in shape, you’ll start your training program about 4 months in advance. If you haven’t been running at all, you should plan to begin regular cardiovascular exercise at least 6 months in advance. There are hundreds of reputable books and websites you can use as a guide for putting together your training program. A few of them include the website: http://www.runnersworld.com, or the book: Basic Marathon Training: All the Technique and Gear You Need to Get Started by Leigh Ann Berry, Don Garber, and Chip Mitchell

Shoes
Throughout your training, you’ll be putting quite a few miles on your shoes so purchase a new pair of shoes when your training begins. I recommend visiting a specialty store whose personnel have experience in advising serious and competitive runners. This will ensure that you find a shoe that will complement both your running gait and foot strike. Don’t make the mistake of training for months in an old pair of shoes and then buying new shoes a day or two before the race–you’ll end up with blisters (you probably will anyway). Believe me, the huge blisters from a new pair of shoes will be FAR more painful than the small ones you’ll get by using the shoes you’ve already broken in.

It’s not like you cannot buy a new pair of shoes during your training program, just don’t wait until the week before the race. You might even consider buying two pairs of the same shoes at the beginning of your training schedule and using both of them equally throughout your training.

Hydration
Ensure you’re properly hydrated for every run by drinking half your body-weight in ounces of water each day. For example, if you weigh 140 lbs, drink 80 ounces of water every day. When it’s time for a long training run, keep a water bottle handy at all times. You can do this by stashing water bottles in strategic locations on your route, wearing a utility belt that holds water bottles, or carrying it by hand for the entire run (not recommended, you’ll drink all the water in the first half of the run and throw the bottle on the ground b/c you are sick of carrying it).

Caloric Intake
Even if you are running this marathon to lose weight you must still eat enough calories to have energy for the entire training regimen. You’ll want to load up on carbohydrates before long runs and keep a pretty even caloric intake throughout the week.

Recovery Time
Remember to incorporate recovery time into your training schedule. Your muscles will need rest after a full week of training plus an additional long run. You could even consider adding a weekly or monthly massage into your schedule to assist in your recovery.

Although by no means a comprehensive guide, these are a few of the topics you should consider as you map out your marathon plan.

Sources: http://www.marathonguide.com