If you can run two miles you can run marathon! So here’s how it goes. I remember about 8 yrs ago I never thought I could run a marathon. I started to exercise and run to help get over the bad habits I developed and as I did I felt energized.

I started running one mile and soon that became three and then five As I read books and learned how to expand I decided to run a marathon. My first was the New York City Marathon in 2003 and my goal was to finish.

The first step is to find a marathon and sign up for it. This will show your personal commitment and will help you knowing that you have a goal. Look for one approximately six months out from the beginning of your training. Take the first month and start running 3-4 days a week being sure to stretch before and after your runs. Stretching will help prevent injuries and promote long term health.

Use this first month to build a base run of 3-5 miles a day. As you approach the second month start to increase this base run to about 4-6 miles a day 4 -5 days a week. At this point it is not necessary to run fast. The goal here is to finish, if you need take 30 seconds to 1 minute in between each mile.

I will discuss hydration and nutrition in the next article as this is very important as well. Now that you have a nice base run of about 20 miles per week you can build nicely on this over the next 12 weeks.

Starting month 3 begin to build on your run intensity and duration. You will need to add at least one “speed” work out and one “hill” exercise to your routine and also one long run to your weekly mileage.

Here is an example of what is can look like. Monday run 3-5 miles at an average pace. Tuesday run some hills (8-10 times up a hill that is approximately 100meters in length at a brisk pace and slowly jog down) and take Wednesday off and then on Thursday run a brisk 4-5 mile run. Friday try some speed work and then Saturday off. And last try a long run on Sunday of about 7-9 miles that are at a slow pace. As you do these routines add mileage to your long run every other week by 2 miles, your mileage will increase dramatically along with your stamina until you reach around 20 to 22 miles on your long run.

The last thing to do is the taper. Three weeks prior to your planned race you need to taper off the long runs and decrease your mileage by fifty percent. Cut your long run in by a third at the first week of your taper and then run an easy 10 miler the weekend before the marathon. The week of the marathon try a few short 3-5 milers and then take some rest on Friday and Saturday before the race.

Try this and you will finish your first marathon. Happy running!

Guest post by Kathleen Baker.

Regardless of your city’s location, if it is the site for any major marathon race, then chances are it will attract a large international audience. With many prominent runners hailing from African nations like Kenya and Ethiopia, there has been a recent influx of fast runners from Germany and Russia as well taking many of the top times. In these poorer African nations, however, youths see their distance running as a ticket to get out of these poverty-stricken areas so that they can succeed in something that comes naturally to them.

East Africa has long supplied many of the world’s top long-distance runners over the past years, though there still remains speculation as to why this has become such a true fact. Many believe this is because of the high altitude at which Kenyans and Ethiopians train, although these countries also have a robust running culture as well as highly trained regimes. The specific Kalenjin tribe in Kenya are only 12 percent of the population of the country although they make up 75 percent of the nation’s elite runners, growing from the onset Olympic victory of Kip Keino in 1968. This has thus inspired many Kalenjin youths to grow up and be like this hero of the tribe. Additionally, the fact that so many Kenyans and Ethiopians have witnessed their fellow citizens travel overseas and win thousands of dollars in marathon money has been a further encouragement to rigorously train in order to become the best at marathon running. This has led domestic competition to drastic levels in order to determine who is the best to compete internationally.

However, very few youths get the opportunity to leave their home nations and travel in order to compete in international marathons. This still remains a dream far out of reach for so many young people in these nations, especially Kenya, but they keep training in the 7,000 to 8,000 foot altitudes in order to build up an endurance. This change in altitude offers a form of training that is used around the world, but the Kalenjin tribe has learned to hone into this factor and train their runners specifically for distance. Many genetic tests have additionally been conducted to determine to what length physiology plays a role in the Kalenjin tribe’s accomplishments as runners. In 2000, the Danish Sports Science Institute concluded after their tests with a Danish runner that Kenyans have a born advantage due to their “birdlike legs”. Many Kenyans themselves view their running strength as a sign of their superior work ethic which allows them to work harder and reach goals that would otherwise seem unfathomable. While the true reason behind their superior running skills remains undetermined, the fact remains that across the world, Kenyans and on a smaller scale, Ethiopians, are still dominating the first place mark on many marathons without any sign of this letting up.

This post was contributed by Kathleen Baker, who writes about nursing schools. She welcomes your feedback at KathleenBaker3212 at gmail.com