Marathon Preparation
London or Brighton – either way a Marathon is – 26.2 miles!
Having travelled the distance, any distance runner (or in my case, more like a trot) will tell you that that 0.2 of a mile at the end is very important & frequently the most memorable. Initially it is the realisation that your quest is coming to its conclusion & in the case of the London Marathon that means passing Big Ben & proceeding along the Mall past the temporary viewing stands. Secondly, that psychological marker is usually accompanied by a speeding up of some very tired legs in order to “finish in style”!
So how can you make your finish line photo look “Fab-u-lous?”
Preparation! (No, it is not checking the make-up & presenting your best profile to camera ladies) – it’s the training you have put in over the preceding months & ensuring your body is injury free when you arrive bright & early in Greenwich Park, albeit a little nervous especially if this is your first full marathon. There is still time to improve your PB, have enough reserves to finish with a flourish & smile as you cross the finish line to receive your well-deserved medal.
Don’t just run & run & run!
Especially if you are a beginner to running, it is vital to give yourself enough preparation time, and to slowly increase the distances you run. If you just decide to put your trainers on and go for a 6mile run, you are asking for an injury. We suggest you attempt to complete 1k on your first ever jog. This could be a mixture of walking the hills and jogging the flats and down hills sections. Attempt this distance again and see if you can keep jogging for longer. Now start to increase the distance you cover on some of the runs. In the early weeks, you should be attempting 2-3 runs a week, and keep gradually increasing the distance, especially on one of them so you have one longer run and 1-2 shorter ones in a week. Ideally, there would be one strength and conditioning workout to help the legs and core. Keep increasing the workload and when it is a week before the marathon, you should have your last long run, of half marathon distance (13 miles) before a tapering (rest) period leading up to the event. This rest week will allow any little injury niggles to go, plan a pre-event massage so you will b in peak shape to smash the marathon! You don’t need to practice marathon distance to run a marathon, just need to get the miles in your legs. If need help with you training, please contact Daniel our Personal Trainer
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And don’t “Just Eat”.
Eating the right foods & the correct levels of hydration will help you finish & prevent you hitting the dreaded “wall” when your legs no longer feel as though they belong to you & simply refuse to obey your commands let alone propel you in a forwards direction.
It is very hard to have enough energy stored in the body through the food eaten before a marathon. We recommend the energy gel sachets, which can give you a huge calorie hit & will stop you hitting the wall. However, it is vital you use them in your training, because a large ingestion of calories at once especially if you are not used to it, can make you feel sick which in turn will negatively affect your run.
Take care of any niggles & strains before they become a real problem.
Expecting any issues you have with real discomfort while you are training to miraculously disappear on the big day is to say the least, very optimistic! The expected slightly sore legs after increasing mileage or a hillier terrain is part of the training stimulus, but something that persists for more than a couple of days can spell trouble. If this is a case of “just see what happens as it might just go away on its own”, it may prevent you from making the start line let alone finishing the event. Seek professional advice & undergo regular treatments to keep your body in “tip top condition”; after all it has 26 miles to travel………………..
Not forgetting that all important .2!!!
