Summertime, time, time…Child the livin’ Ain’t easy…Not if you are training for a fall marathon that is.
Over the past two weeks, I have eased my body back into
marathon training like a little kid, step-by-step, slowly submerging herself
into a freezing-cold pool before an early-morning, summer swim team practice. As I find myself in the early stages of
my marathon training, I can’t help but parallel this training period with that
of my first. Thankfully, since I’ve
now done a lap around the block (or many blocks rather), I have the benefits of
all the hard lessons I learned last year, and I thought this may be a good time
to share my perspective on how to make your marathon training successful and
put you in the best position come race day.
1) Develop
your Training Program: There are
countless training programs out there (vast majority of which are free!), but
you need to start your training with something that is reasonable for your
current fitness level and your goals.
If you are training for your first marathon and your goal is just to
finish, I wouldn’t put a whole lot of effort in to speed work. Instead, I would focus on just safely
building mileage. A good place to
start (and my first training schedule) is MarathonRookie: http://www.marathonrookie.com/marathon-training.html
Also, it is important to think of
your training schedule as more of a guide rather than a set-in-stone plan. As I mentioned, last year I started
with the MarathonRookie schedule, but then I scratched it a few weeks in and
began using a plan that had me running three days a week and cross-training two
other days (swimming, biking, yoga), and then, as my body became capable of
withstanding additional mileage, I ultimately took that schedule and blended it
with another training plan that incorporated hill sprints and with one that
emphasized four 20-mile long runs.
2) Track
your Progress: Because I rarely
follow my training plan perfectly, I like to log my mileage in a
spreadsheet. It is also a good
idea to make note of what type of run you did if it differs from the plan. As you progress through your training,
monitor your progress to make sure you are on track. And if you experience any injuries or discomfort, your
training log will be a great place to help you pinpoint where you went wrong.
3) Listen
to your Body: There is no training
plan that has been magically created to tell you the perfect run for you to do
each day. Instead, you need to
constantly check in with your body to see how you feel after your last run,
how you feel during your current run, and what you think your body can take for
the next run. The answer may be
that you do no run at all. For
example, Friday night, I was supposed to run 10 miles, but it had been a long,
draining week – my calves were tight from the increase of mileage, my mind was
tired from so much thinking and too much work, and my body was,
generally-speaking, plain exhausted.
So, instead of running when I got home from work, I sat on the front
porch of my little bungalow with my dog and enjoyed this week’s beer choice,
Lagunitas I.P.A. And my training
runs Saturday and Sunday – much stronger due to the Friday night beer break.
4) Avoid
Injuries: There are various
figures out there for the percentage of runners who get injured each year, but
one thing they all have in common – the rate is extremely high. Nothing can set back your training or
ruin your race day more than an injury.
Going along with #3 ‘Listen to your Body,’ I cannot stress how important
it is to check in for any signs of pain or the beginnings of an injury. I try to handle my training and body
with kid gloves. As soon as I
experience any signs of an injury (most likely an overuse injury from
increasing mileage too quickly or pushing my training too far too fast), I back
off. And by back off, I mean I
STOP RUNNING! Seriously – Don’t be
an idiot – Don’t run! It seems
like common sense but so many people try to run through injuries, and then they
turn into a huge issue that sends them to the doctor or knocks them completely
out of race training. As soon as
you feel an injury coming on, stop running (cross train by doing something that
does not cause discomfort and mimics the planned training effort – easy,
medium, hard, etc.) Continue to
cross train until your injury is completely gone. Then cross train for one more
training session just to be safe.
Once you feel you can run, go out and do an easy short run. If that run goes well, you can resume
training the following training day.
Remember – kid gloves.
5) Research: A fast runner is a smart runner, and a
smart runner is one who has done her homework. Read as many books and articles as you can. Ask people’s advice. You will quickly learn that one expert
will say something completely opposite of another (barefoot running ring a
bell?), but look for the commonalities and find what works best for you.
6) Eat
Well: The average runner burns 100
calories per mile. Being
accustomed to instant gratification we often want to reward ourselves for our
hard work. For the same reasons
why I would want a cookie every day during tax season, some runners will enjoy
a dinner of beer, burgers, and fries after a sweaty, hard three miles. 300 calories out. Calories in??? You get the picture.
7) Make
Time: No one has time to train for a marathon – Or at least very few people
have the time. You have to make the time. Training for a marathon has to be a priority, and it has to
come before almost everything.
Your friends or loved ones may not understand why you choose running
over dinner out, but they will learn to make plans with you in advance so you
can switch your run to the morning.
You will also figure out ways to save time. For example, I-just-ran-10-sweaty-miles hair looks an awful
lot like I-just-walked-on-the-beach hair.
Just rinse off your body, throw on some deodorant, and you are good to
go.
8) It’s
Not Supposed to be Easy: If
running a marathon were easy, everyone would do it. The truth of the matter is that it’s absolutely awful
sometimes. You will have good days
of training, but you will also have really hard days that will make you
question what you are doing. You
will be tired. You will be
sore. You will get black toenails,
and you will lose toenails. I will
probably not get another boyfriend in my life for posting the below picture,
but it is a shot of my toenails (after removing toenail paint and before
reapplying new paint) about a month before my marathon last fall. Tip: If you are a girl (or a dude who
likes painted toenails), pick a dark shade like black, grey, or navy so that it
will blend with the bruising. You
can also paint a “fake toenail” on the toes that are missing nails. Unless you post a pic on your blog,
most likely no one will ever know.
9) Remain
Focused & Motivated: Perhaps
the biggest challenge of training for a marathon is to remain positive and
focused on progressing your training.
Consistently reading and researching running helps me to stay
motivated. I also receive daily
quotes from Runner’s World that help me start my day (http://www.runnersworld.com/quotes). Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I
visualize my goal and never allow myself to forget why I’m training. Remember – you want this.
10) It’s Your
Marathon: After all my training
advice, I will acknowledge that it is your marathon (just as my marathon is my marathon) and you can choose to train
and run it however you please.
Maybe you are running a marathon just so you can eat burgers and fries
and drink beer every night or maybe your marathon isn’t a priority and you are
fine with just training when you can and winging it on race day. Whatever your goal may be – I can
only hope that you find some joy in training, and you may come to realize that
the rewards from running a marathon have already been won before you ever toe
the starting line. Happy Training!
MCM Training Week Two: 56 Miles
(Mostly Easy, A few hill sprints, A few miles at goal
marathon pace. Longest run = 15 miles)
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