How To Train For A Marathon

Today’s post is courtesy of a friend of mine who is currently training for the Boston Marathon.  He passed along some tips that he’s found useful over the years for marathon training.

Find a partner or coach - This is one of the most important things you’ll do.  You’re going to need someone to measure your time, remind you of workouts, provide motivation to get out of bed and run by your side as you train.  It’s great if you can find someone willing to act as your coach.  They don’t have to be a professional coach since you’re not a professional marathon runner, they just need to be able to read a chart, understand a spreadsheet and yell out times.  It’s even better if your coach plans on running the marathon with you.

Write up a training plan - There are a variety of them available online but here’s a sample that my friend used for training for a half marathon:

• Week 1 - one 6.0 mile run on trail, one 4.0 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 2 - one 6.0 mile run on trail, one 4.0 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 3 - one 7.0 mile run on trail, one 4.5 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 4 - Break
• Week 5 - one 7.0 mile run on trail, one 4.5 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 6 - one 8.0 mile run on trail, one 5.0 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 7 - one 9.0 mile run on trail, one 5.5 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 8 - Break
• Week 9 - one 10.0 mile run on trail, one 6.0 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 10 - one 11.0 mile run on trail, one 6.5 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 11 - one 12.0 mile run on trail, one 7.0 mile run on track and one day of intervals.
• Week 12 - Break
• Week 13 - Half Marathon.

A few things of note here.  First, he took break weeks.  These are very important since long distance running puts quite a bit of stress on your body.  Breaks are important to allow your body to recover.  Second, intervals are where you work on your speed.  In general, he did half the distance he would on that week track run while working on intervals, but he did it at a much faster pace.  Third, try to constantly improve on your time on the track run.  This is the one where you’re really measuring yourself and your coach should be there with you in the center of the track letting you know how you’re doing and what you need to change.

Set a goal - Figure out ahead of time what time you’re aiming for and then train to achieve that time.  Be realistic but don’t forget to challenge yourself.  If you find out during training that you can easily achieve that goal, maybe you should set it higher.  However, don’t undertrain.  That is, if you set a goal for a certain pace or time, why are you training to set a slower time or run a slower pace?

Follow your plan - Don’t deviate from your plan.  It’s too easy to get caught up in the “oh, I’ll just run an extra day this week” mentality.  Don’t do it.  Your training should be nice and constant and should NOT overwork your body.  Three strenuous runs in a week is more than enough.   At the same time, commit to your plan and don’t miss any days.  Let your friends and family know what you’re doing and make sure they’re aware of your new schedule.  Best time to train by the way is in the morning.  There are less demands on your time at 6am.

Walk the course - The week before the marathon, walk or bike the course.  You want to get a feel for how tough it is and driving it in a car just doesn’t do that.  Note the hills, the rough surfaces, the steps, portions that will be in direct sunlight and anything else that might affect your performance.  I know someone who paces his Hawaii marathon running to always stay in the shade of the mountain.  Little things like this can make a big difference.

Test out your gear - The gear you plan to run in should be the gear you’re training in.  Worse thing you can do is buy new gear and not use it until the day of the race.  Running shoes have to be broken in and you don’t want to do that while running a marathon.  Shirt fabrics might be too scratchy or too warm and you want to find that out early.  Running shorts or pants might be too constrictive.  All of these things should be found out ahead of time.

Enjoy the run - Too many people do marathons just to say they’ve done them.  You’re missing the point if you do this.  Marathons are experienced to be enjoyed, not suffered through.  If you’re miserable while running a marathon than perhaps you should pick a different challenge for yourself.

Fun workouts; sports!

We’ve been talking about fun ways to workout this week. So far we’ve gone over dancing, hiking and biking. All of these are good examples of ways in which a fun activity can also be a workout. Today, we’re going to talk about something you might not have done since you were a child, playing sports.

Sports As A Workout

Many sports can be an excellent source of physical activity. You’ll frequently find yourself running around for hours while playing. Sports are also a good workout because they tend to engage your whole body and not just your legs. Like the other activities we discussed this week, sports can be a very good social activity which means you’ll have more reason to do them and thus tend to skip your workout less often. Let’s talk about some individual sports and see how they stack up:

Baseball - Unfortunately, the great American pastime does not make for a good workout. First of all, baseball players tend to stand or sit for large periods of time. The physical activity in baseball comes in short bursts separated by large amounts of inactivity. That means you’re not getting a very good cardio workout. Also, baseball requires quite a bit of specialized equipment and a large number of players. This makes it hard to play on a moment’s notice or to set up casual play times.

Football - Another American classic, football is better than baseball in that the periods of physical activity are more frequent. However, football also has frequent breaks between plays. Like baseball, it usually requires a large number of players plus some equipment. Football is also one of the more injury prone sports due to its physical nature.

Soccer - Soccer, while not quite as popular in the US as it is in the rest of the world, makes for an excellent workout. Physical activity comes frequently and without too many breaks. There’s almost no special equipment required, just a ball and something to mark the goal posts. Soccer is also relatively safer than football although it does put a lot of stress on the feet. Soccer can be played in large or small groups. All told, this is one of the best sports workout you can get.

Basketball - Like soccer, basketball is relatively safe and provides for continuous physical activity with few breaks in the middle. It can be played with as few players as two, making it ideal for casual workouts. It does require a specialized court, but one that can be found almost anywhere. Basketball has another advantage in that it engages the whole body, not just your legs. The only slight downside to basketball is the stress it puts on your feet due to the hard nature of the court. However, this detracts only a little which means basketball is still one of the best choices for a sports workout.

Hockey - Hockey is one of the best workouts available through sports. It engages the whole body, it has almost no stress on your feet and it offers a continuous physical workout. The only problem with hockey is the amount of specialized gear it requires. If you have access to hockey gear, hockey players and a hockey rink, by all means, play hockey! I can’t think of a better sports workout.

Tennis - There’s great workout potential in tennis. It works the whole body, it’s usually played on soft surfaces and it has few breaks. The only problem is the limit to 2 or 4 people at most and the need for a specialized court. However, if you have access to the right resources, tennis is another good option.

Rugby - For those unfamiliar with it, rugby is like a cross between football and soccer. It’s an incredible workout in all respects. The only downsides are the potential for injury due to the rough nature of the sport and the general lack of awareness for rugby in most countries such as the US. This means it’s hard to find people who want to play it.

There are many other sports out there but due to time constraints, I’m not going to describe all of them. Feel free to add suggestions in the comments field.

Getting Started

As far as getting started, I’m going to send you to the place you’re already at, the internet. Almost every city will have some kind of sports league. There are also numerous office leagues, school leagues and an endless variety of regularly scheduled games at your local park. Your best bet is to look online or just go to the park and ask the players there how they got started. As usual, I’ve always found experienced players to be very helpful. This isn’t school, they won’t pick you last just because you’re new. Most of these leagues aren’t about cutthroat competition, they’re about having fun, and they’re always looking for more players. Another great idea would be to just get your friends and schedule a time to go play.

Things To Watch Out For

As always, watch out for dehydration and sunscreen. With sports, you should also watch out for various injuries. Make sure to wear the proper protective gear for your sport.