Runner’s Question: I haven’t been involved in sports for about 3 years and as a result (among other reasons) I’ve gained about 15-20 lbs of unwanted(!) weight. I am using this half-marathon as an incentive to get myself in shape. I have a training schedule that I found online, but does anyone have recommendations for me? I’d also like to improve my diet, and take healthy supplements. I am currently taking fish oil, vitamin c (just so I don’t get sick), glucosamine (I have bad joints), and a one-a-day multivitamin. Thanks for any help you can offer…

By the way, I start training today – 19-21 miles this week and next week, going up to 32-34 a week, then the lask week is really light before the race. Thanks in advance for your suggestions/help!

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Training to Run:

Everything depends on your level of fitness. Lance Armstrong said running a marathon was the hardest thing he ever did, I’m just happy to finish one. His sub 3 hour marathon equate to my 1/2 marathon time give or take some minutes. The Basics of running are simple, efficiency of stride, lactic acid threshold, base training, patience and determination.

Training Plan: If you’re just starting out, I would suggest running 3 times a week. I would also run a 3 week cycle. The first week of the cycle you train at a specific level. The second week you increase by 10-20%. The third week you scale back to lower than first week’s level. This gives your body time to recuperate and prevents injuries. The first week of your next cycle should be increased by 10-15%. After 3 cycles, reduce you first week pace by 10%. This will work – you just need to be patient.
For example: Distance of every run in the week.

Cycle 1: wk1:1km – wk2:1.2km – wk3:0.9km

Cycle 2 : wk1:1.2km – wk2:1.4km – wk3:1.1km

Cycle 3 : wk1:1.4km – wk2:1.6km – wk3:1.3km

Cycle 4 : wk1:1.2km – wk2:1.4km – wk3:1.1km

Cycle 5 : wk1:1.4km – wk2:1.6km – wk3:1.3km

Cycle 6 : wk1:1.6km – wk2:1.8km – wk3:1.4km

I think you get the picture.

Beginner:

The best method to ease into running is the run walk method. Your body should adjust to running more easily using this method. The time you spend running and the time you spend walking depends again on your fitness level. If you need to walk longer or are able to run more, just do it. You run for 30-60 seconds, depending , you walk for 30 seconds. You do this for a week. The next week you increment you run by 10 seconds, but keep the walk to 30 seconds. As the weeks progress you should be able to gain substantial increase you capacity of running. The ideal for the run walk method is to get up to 10 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking, but it all depends on how you feel. Once you are able to keep a pace of 10-1 for 30 minutes you can start to increase the 10 minute run by 10-20% every week.

The pace you should be in is a Zone 1 pace. Zones are calculated by the hearth rate that is attained with physical activity. Zone 1 pace is (220 – your age) X 60 or 70% – I’m 36 , (220bpm – 36) X 70% = 130 bpm. This is a foundation building pace. This pace is used on long runs because it enables your body to manage lactic acid. A friendly fuel when absorbed properly lactic acid becomes running enemy when it is out of control. The longer you can run at this pace, the more your body will improve his capability to absorb the acid. This is endurance building, and it is the first step to having a great run.

Lactic Acid Is Not Muscles’ Foe, It’s Fuel!

If you need to do more sports during the week, cross training should be your choice. Gym work to strengthen the abs is a plus. Cycling or spinning also gets your heart going without the impact on your knees.

If you are able to run for 30 minutes, my suggestion to you is to get out there and find a nice friendly 5k. This is a celebration of life , a celebration of your new found passion: Running. Turkey trot your way to the end.

Intermediate:

You’ve achieved your first goal and that first 5k is now behind you. You’ve adapted your body to running and now can run 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time and can even push this a bit further.

You now are able to move to the next level. First thing to do is add another running day to your week. This will help you put on the miles and will help you adjust even more to a runner’s regiment. Second thing to do is start mixing up your running workouts. 1 slow long run (zone 1), 2 normal half hour runs (zone 1 maximized- bottom zone 2), and 1 run that is totally different from the other types of runs that your body is accustomed to do. My suggestion is either Hill running or intervals.

Hill running is simple: Find a hill – run it to the top (if you can get up there fine – if not – stop where you’re about to collapse) – once up there – walk back down. Do this 10 times and make sure you keep a pace that you can accomplish it 10 times. If you cannot run it – walk up the hill. This will put pressure on your big leg muscles and should bring your body close to lactic acid threshold, walking back down will help your body manage that load and will push it farther and farther as the workouts progress.

Interval: Warm up with a 15 minute turkey trot. Once you are warmed up – bolt it for 100 meters – as fast as you can without collapsing (85% of your max speed) – just before blowing up – walk for 1 minute. Repeat this for at least 1000 meters (10 X 100 meters). If your body is not too broken, turkey trot your way back home for another 15 minutes … this is great for pushing your lactic acid threshold even farther.

The point of pushing your body this way is to enable you to start picking up speed and finding a way to sustain it. Also – this is a good thing for your running body as it is called upon to adjust and find new ways of coping. Doing the same thing week after week can cause your body to adapt and might hinder your progression.

The goal you might have with these exercises is to improve you PR for your 5K or 10K time, enabling you to get faster and faster. Being faster and enabling your body to cope with it will help you out on your long slow runs. Your lactic acid overload might not be as great as it was before and your threshold of pain and endurance will be heightened.

Once you mastered these techniques and can now run for an hour or more on your slow long runs, a 10K or a half marathon is well within your reach.

Experts:

Elite runners are a breed on their own. They usually have a running stride that looks like a work of art and also have a cardio that can sustain 15-20 km/hour run tempo. Not everybody can achieve this type of running pace and keep it for 2 hours or more.

If you’re at this level and are reading this, you’ve humoured me enough to keep going and could potentially write an article on this web site about how you go about your training.

Running a marathon, whether you are doing it for charity or for your own health and fitness levels, can be very rewarding. Though popular, the marathon is perhaps the toughest among all of the races. Sincere effort from the part of the runner is highly important to ensure success in running a marathon. Below you will find 31 tips to make marathon running eventful and successful.

1. The prime thing is to select a quality pair of shoes and socks to wear in the marathon. It is further recommended not to wear a new pair of sneakers.

2. Equally important is the selection of an outfit. It is always advisable to avoid cotton T-shirts for the race. Clothes made of such materials as coolmax and nylon are the most suitable choices.

3. Weather plays an important role in the marathon. Hence, start your training during the best weather conditions for your climate. Likewise, avoid running when it is too hot or too cold.

4. Marathon running is most suitable for those who have been running regularly for at least one or two years.

5. Prior to running a marathon, it is important to take sufficient training by running on similar topography.

6. Likewise, at least four or five days before the race, perform a two or three mile run by wearing your marathon apparel and shoes. This will help boost your confidence.

7. If situations are allowable, try to run at the same time of the day as the start of your race. The more you can perform this the more beneficial it will be on the day of.

8. Sometimes, you may not be able to practice due to bad weather. In such instances, it is better to continue training on equipments like the elliptical machine or a treadmill.

9. Tapering is one of the important aspects of training. It is highly vital to repair the micro-damages, store up glycogen, and overcome chronic dehydration. Tapering usually begins three weeks prior to the marathon race.

10. Before the marathon, make sure that your toenails are not too long, as it may be painful when they catch on your sock and your nail rips out.

11. Special care must also be given to your toes, particularly if you have hammertoes, in such cases, it would be better to use some kind of padding beneath your toes.

12. Try to free yourself from outside stress and tension in your life, at least a week before the race.

13. If possible, visit a doctor a week before the race. This will be helpful in getting rid of any problems like ankle or feet injuries and arch as well as heel pain.

14. However, it is better to avoid anti-inflammatory pills such as Advil and Aleve, while they may give temporary relief, they can sometimes lead to more serious problems.

15. As it is a great alternative for sore muscles, get a pre-marathon massage about a week before.

16. Invite your close friends and relatives to attend, as they can cheer you on.

17. Before the race, try to consume more nutritional as well as healthy foods. In addition, it is advisable to eat carbohydrates for dinner the night before.

18. Drink lots of water while training, and try to avoid coffee and tea, especially before the big day.

19. Try to keep your routine as normal as possible before the race, you don’t want anything to distract your focus.

20. Get lots of sleep.

21. Imagine that the race is scheduled on Sunday. Then sleep well on Friday night and wake up early on Saturday. This will enable you to get sufficient sleep, as many of the runners don’t get a sound night’s sleep the night prior to a marathon.

22. You must not think about the race too much after your evening meal prior to the race, for fear of stressing yourself out.

23. Wake up early the day of the race, and try to eat breakfast at least two to three hours before the beginning of the race.

24. Review your training sessions.

25. Try to arrive at least an hour before the race.

26. Wear a watch during the race in order to keep better pace of your progress.

27. Apply sunscreen before the race, as it will help your skin from sun damage.

28. It is important that you stay hydrated during the race.

29. Take an extra set of clothes for the race in case of emergencies or changes in the weather.

30. It is recommended not to waste energy during the first mile of the race, but on the subsequent three to five miles, try to get up to the runners that you are planning to run with.

31. Above all, relax and enjoy the race.

When you first decide to complete a marathon you need to find what marathon training schedules work best for you. You need to find something that is going to fit your needs and is going to be easy for you to implement. There are a lot of marathon training schedules out there so it is important you find something that is going to help you complete your first marathon.

There are many different types of marathon training schedules and some focus on particular areas more so than others. But what you have to do is find the marathon training schedules that focus on what to do to complete your first marathon. Training for your first marathon requires a lot of knowledge because you are a beginner and don’t know what its all about yet. So you need to focus your attention to the marathon training schedules that are designed for beginners.

When you are a beginner you need to know the basic principles of marathon training such as start small and build up each week. You need to know how many days a week you should be training and exactly what you should be doing on these days. The marathon training schedules that are designed more advanced runners are not going to cover all that information, they are going to cover more advanced topics such as how you can improve your marathon time and break your personal record.

The marathon training schedules that you will want to focus on will involve detailed step by step training programs for you to follow. Things like what type of foods you should be eating will be covered. Information on how to increase the food intake while you are training and how to manage your weight during your training period. Marathon training schedules that focus on everything a complete beginner would need to know about running a marathon such as mental preparation, recovery and injury prevention are the types of marathon training schedules you should be looking for.

Some good marathon training schedules to follow would be to train 5 days a week and have two days of rest. You would train on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturdays and have Mondays and Fridays as rest days. Your long run would be on Saturdays and your short to medium distance runs would be on the weekdays. Marathon training schedules like this are great to follow.

Also you want to look for marathon training schedules that not only focus on the physical training side but all the other things you need to take into consideration when training for a marathon. Eating correctly before, during and after your marathon are very important things you need to know so you want to find marathon training schedules that cover that area as well.

There is also mental preparation, a marathon is a very mentally draining event even for the most advanced marathoner so it is vital that a beginner knows how to mentally prepare for a marathon. Marathon training schedules that cover the mental side are fantastic and you should try and get your hands on them. Recovery is also another aspect you can’t afford to leave out, many people trying to complete their first marathon often fail because they don’t know how to recover correctly and end up injuring themselves.

So you want to find marathon training schedules that cover the physical training side as well as the mental preparation, nutrition and recovery. These are the best types of marathon training schedules for the beginner and will help you to complete your first marathon.

Ok so lets start from the top. Why do you need a half marathon training guide in the first place? Obviously you have decided to run a half marathon but is that all you are going to do? Is that your biggest goal or just a smaller goal leading up to a bigger goal? Either way you still need to be in the right shape physically to complete the 13.1 miles that a half marathon contains. So you need to have a correct half marathon training guide in place if you are going to succeed.

You need to have a half marathon training guide to follow when you are training for a half marathon because you need to train your body to be able to perform under the types conditions it will face when running a half marathon.

A half marathon is a nice distance because it allows everyone the opportunity to gain some running experience. If you are a beginner you can look to the half marathon as your next step forward in your running career or if you are an experienced runner you can use the half marathon as a part of your overall marathon training. The half marathon training guide is not as extensive as a full marathon and many people enjoy it because it is less time consuming and doesn’t take as long to recover from.

Having a half marathon training guide is very important if you want to run a half marathon because a half marathon carries the same excitement and atmosphere as a full marathon does, the only difference is that the day doesn’t go for as long. But you still need to have a proper half marathon training guide in place so that you don’t fall short of the mark. A half marathon is a great way to predict your full marathon pace. A general rule of thumb is to double your half marathon time and add 10 minutes to it to predict your full marathon time. Having the right half marathon training program can help you develop a strong marathon training program down the track if that is something you would want to do.

Your half marathon training guide will make sure you are correctly prepared for your half marathon. But you should consider getting yourself in good shape for your training. You are going to be doing a lot of running according to your half marathon training guide so it is a good idea to fit yourself with a good pair of running shoes. Running shoes are the single most important piece of equipment you are going to need when running so having a quality pair is essential to you sticking to your half marathon training guide and completing your first half marathon.

Another important factor in a half marathon training guide is the amount of recovery between each session. You will want your half marathon training guide to include 3 rest days a week where you can fully recover and refresh your body so that you are in good condition for your next training session. Recovery is important, if you don’t allow enough time for your body to recover you can burn yourself out and can even cause injuries. Recovering properly will allow you to successfully complete your half marathon without any problems.

A good half marathon training guide will cover the amount of mileage, the recovery, the nutrition and hydration as well as what to do on the day of your half marathon. Most half marathon training guides will have you training for 12 weeks before you complete your first half marathon. This is a good schedule to stick to as you can build up your mileage and be in the right shape to cross the finishing line with ease.