It’s a long-standing myth that only certain people can run and complete a marathon successfully. If you are healthy enough and can run, you can likely run and compete in a marathon.
How To Effectively Prepare For A Marathon
We’ve prepared this article specifically to help you prepare for a marathon as best as possible. After all, a marathon is about personal challenge, not necessarily beating other people to the finish line, unless you are a professional athlete.
So before we get into the details, the most important thing you can do at the beginning is to remember why you are running the marathon and keep your spirits and motivation high.
Keeping up the motivation is crucial if you are to see it to the end. Running a marathon is a great sport, but if you are a punter and a runner at the same time, this website will offer you some nice odds and different games to bet on.
How Do You Choose Your First Marathon?
There are many types of marathons and choosing which one should be your first can be a daunting task, simply of the number of available events sometimes. Choosing your first marathon is important to help you get used to the pace and psychology of running a marathon.
For your first marathon, we would suggest finding a marathon closest to home which will give you a home-field advantage. This is also a great psychological and motivational boost, plus it allows you to compete on a road you already know and are familiar with.
Running a marathon unprepared may not be a good idea. So make sure that you are prepared as best as possible for your first marathon adventure.
Increase Your Mileage Gradually
You cannot expect to become fit enough to run a marathon in two days, so keep increasing your mileage little by little. Don’t go all in all at once. A marathon plan can last anywhere from 2 months to a year.
Pace yourself to several runs per week and try to do the first runs at a relaxing pace. A general rule of thumb is that you should be able to run the warm-up pace and be able to hold a conversation without any significant difficulties.
A good rule would be to increase your pace at a 10% increase in mileage weekly.
A Weekly Long Run
A general goal should be to build a long run that you can perform every week. Each week try extending the longest run you’ve performed so far by an additional kilometer or two to increase your overall endurance and conditioning.
Tempo Run Training
This is one of those things that will increase your endurance and will help you keep things interesting at the same time.
A run in which you increase your tempo is a good way to mix things up and make it more interesting to run. Marathons can take a long time and make it hard to focus and not lose attention.
To spice things up, increase your running speed a bit for the next 3-4 kilometres. This can even help you overcome obstacles such as an uphill section of the marathon and teach your body to endure more stressful situations for the duration of the marathon.
You could also implement intervals into your running routine. Unlike the tempo, these are bigger increases in speed, albeit they apply to a shorter distance overall. Setting a repetition such as 3 x 2 kilometres for a harder pace will also help you keep track of your progress.
Down the line, you can try to increase the repetitions similar to a workout at the gym.
Make Sure To Get Enough Rest
Especially if it’s your first time running a marathon, resting is of utmost importance. Letting your muscle fibres regenerate will help you protect your body against injury, and help you perform better.
On your rest days, try to do some brisk walking if you are itching for exercise. If you somehow get injured during training, ice is a good way to help speed up recovery.
Implement A Gym Session
Strength training can help you build stronger muscles which helps with running a marathon. There are specific exercises for the lower body that will help you build better and stronger muscles and will greatly increase your performance and endurance.
Some exercises which could help you strengthen your legs are deadlifts, lunges, squats and farmer’s walks. However, try not to overtrain your leg muscles at the gym, as this can lead to injury and prevent you from running the marathon.
Speak Your Mind