So your New Year Resolution this year is to complete a marathon or to run a better timing in the marathon, but you may have no idea to go about it.
Regardless of whether you are a beginner or a seasoned runner, training for a marathon – such as the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon in Malaysia, or the Sundown Marathon in Singapore – sounds rather daunting.
But to get you though the marathon safe and sound and in one piece, here are some tips from some of the Australian elite runners.
1) Enter the race early
According to Brad Beer – a Gold Coast Marathon advocate and physiotherapist, you should take the step of officially entering the event and paying the money as early as possible.
By making a solid commitment, he thinks that this draws the best out of your marathon preparation and it is different compared to just saying that you want to run the marathon but you do not officially commit to the race.
2) Have a goal
Planning and goal setting is important according to Rob De Castella, a two time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and a former marathon world record holder. If you are focused on a destination, be it to complete your first marathon or to achieve a new personal best timing, this will stretch you and ensure that you stick to a training programme, rather than simply jogging aimlessly.
3) Make your training personal
According to Pat Carroll, a four time Gold Coast Marathon winner and Australian half marathon all comers record holder, you need a training programme that is suited to your level of fitness, goal and commitments, such as balancing work and family.
He also adds that it is never too early or too late to begin training – Pat would like a marathoner to train for six months to a year before taking part in a marathon depending on their level of fitness, but for the half marathoner, the minimum training time would be for 16 weeks.
4) Get a running buddy
According to Steve Moneghetti, a four time Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, having a running buddy that is of a similar ability to you will help you to boost your motivation and increase your chances of achieving your running goals. Having a friend can also help push you to run further and faster and he recommends that runners should join running groups to find such friends that can help them in such a way.
5) Mix up your training
Benita Willis, a four time Olympian and Australian female marathon record holder, feels that you should mix up your training runs, tempos and environments in order to reinvigorate your training programme. According to her, this helps to keep training fun and allows you to develop both your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems at the same time.
At the same time, she recommends cross training – to help the body to recover from the runs and lessen your chances of sustaining an injury at the same time.
6) Chill out
Lee Troop, a three time Olympian and the 2006 Gold Coast Airport Marathon winner says that it is normal to have a bad race or training session but you should not let this affect you. Instead you should remain calm and chill and move on so that your key race will work out well.
Troop also advocates recovery – to allow the body to heal from its rigorous running programme, work and family commitments. He adds that while training regularly for a marathon is important, it is okay to drop an easy run and simply take the day off, if you are feeling exceptionally tired.
He also explained that it is perfectly normal to feel stressed as race day draws near – about whether you have enough mileage in the bank or if you have trained enough. But do not let this affect you; instead, run the best race that you can based on your level of training and fitness, and do not try and ramp up the last minute training as this will do more harm rather than good, more often than not.
This article has been adapted from https://goldcoastmarathon.com.au/2017/09/15/six-ways-to-fire-the-starters-gun-on-your-training/.
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