MARATHON TRAINING TIPS
NUTRITION
- Hydration. Staying hydrated while training and during the marathon is extremely important. Be sure you are hydrated before, during, and after your runs to maintain energy, regulate body temperature, and reduce the stress of running on your body. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty to drink–by then it is too late and you are already dehydrated.
- Balance. Runners should maintain a healthy balance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats for the best nutrition to keep their bodies healthy.
- Energy food. During longer runs of 10 miles or more, replenish your lost energy with energy foods that are easy to carry with you such as energy bars and gels.
- Iron. Distance running takes lots of iron from your body, so be sure to eat plenty of foods with iron such as red meat and spinach. Women should be very careful that they are replenishing their iron and may benefit from an iron supplement.
- Don’t eat these. Limit foods high in unhealthy fats and fried foods. Not only are these foods not healthy to eat, they won’t give you the necessary energy and nutrients your body needs during training.
- Before runs. 90 minutes before a run, hava a light snack full of carbohydrates to keep your energy up and give your body the fuel it needs. Have a whole-wheat bagel, banana, or an apple.
- Sports drinks. For runs over 60 minutes, have a sports drink along with water to replenish your body of electrolytes that you are losing during the run.
- Caffeine. Studies have shown that for distance running, caffeine can enhance your performance. About 300 milligrams prior to your race should be plenty to get any benefits. Benefits will improve if you limit your caffeine throughout the week and utilize it only for races.
- Fueling. When training or on the day of the marathon, you will need to fuel your body to keep it functioning well.
STRESS & TIME MANAGEMENT
- Form a routine. Getting into a routine that provides you time for both what you must accomplish as well as your training schedule will allow you to feel like you aren’t neglecting anything.
- Be flexible. Control what you can, but when those things pop up that you can’t control, like injury or weather, learn to adjust as necessary.
TRAINING
- Stretch. Stretching helps prevent injuries, so don’t forget to stretch both before and after each of your runs.
- Yoga. Practicing yoga is an excellent cross-training exercise for runners as it improved flexibility, strength, and mental focus.
- Practice hills. Hill training will boost your power. It also benefits your training by teaching your body to run fast (during the downhills) while your body is feeling tired. Your training will include some hill/strength training.
- Cross train. You don’t have to run every day to train for a marathon. Participate in other activities such as swimming, cycling, walking, or training machines and you will reduce your chance of burnout, prevent injury, and build other muscles running doesn’t work out.
- Rest day. At least one day a week, don’t do any exercise. The day before your long run is an excellent day for rest so you are ready for the tough upcoming work-out.
- Train in similar clothing. If you train in similar clothing to what you’ll be wearing during the marathon, you will feel more comfortable during the race and not have any unexpected issues with rubbing or weight of the clothes.
- Short to long races. While training, run smaller races and gradually increase so that you are running races incrementally longer as you approach the full 26.2 miles.
- Listen to your body. If it hurts stop or rest. Don’t push yourself too hard or you will injure yourself and you may miss out on the marathon all together.
RACE TIPS
- Sleep. Be sure to get a good night’s rest during the week before the race.
- Ibuprofen. Take some ibuprofen before leaving for the race (1hr before) to counteract any aches and pains you may get during the run. Some believe this is not a good practice, I have personally done it for years and feel it makes a significant difference. However, do not do this routinely (every day).... save it for races. Also, be sure you are well hydrated because it is excreted through the kidneys and take it with food because it can irritate the stomach lining.
- Know where. Know where the start line is located so that you are not wandering around lost when everyone is running.
- Arrive early. Give yourself plenty of time to park and get to the starting line without worrying you’ll be late. Chances are traffic will be heavy the morning of the marathon.
Arriving early also allows you to get there and center yourself and do your warm-up before starting. - Know the course. Be familiar with the race map before you run so that there are no surprises along the way.
- Hills. Be aware of hilly areas and pace yourself so that you are not exerting yourself too much prior to hitting the hills.
- Water. Don’t go past any chance for water. Be sure to drink water often and early, so you can keep hydrated. Don't guzzle... just a few mouth fulls on each station.
- Layers. Start out wearing layers. The temperature at the beginning of the race may be cooler first thing, and your body will warm up as you run. Take off throw-aways as you warm up (dollar store gloves, old sweatshirt etc.)
- Walk. Take walk breaks if necessary, during water stations.
- Go out slowly at the beginning of the race, so you will have the strength and energy to finish the race you planned. It will feel easy in the beginning so sometimes you have to keep yourself back.
- Pain. Pain comes and goes during the race. Don’t focus on the pain, instead, repeat a mantra or practice guided imagery to shift your focus.
EQUIPMENT
- Running watch. For a relatively inexpensive price, you can get a running watch that includes a stopwatch, lap counter, and a history of your runs to help you train with more accuracy.
- Light. If you will be doing any night running, a head light will keep you safe and ensure drivers see you.
- Shoe wallet . Chances are good you will need to leave your house or car when you go for a run. Get a shoe wallet to keep your key secure.
- Sunscreen. In the summer, apply sunscreen before going on your run to keep your skin healthy.
- Sunglasses. If you are running in the daytime, invest in a good quality pair of sunglasses to keep your eyes protected.
- Duct tape. If your running is rubbing blisters on your feet, try using duct tape to protect them and ease the pain.
- Anti-chafe. Use an anti-chafe stick (body glide) to help prevent chafing anywhere hot spots occur.
CLOTHING
- Shoes. Probably the single-most important piece of clothing or equipment you will have for running is your shoes. Choose them carefully and have a specialty shoe store help you choose the right shoe for you.
- Socks. Wearing good quality running socks is important to keep your feet in good shape, provide arch support, guard against blisters, and wick away moisture.
- Shorts. Find shorts made for runners that feature comfort, range of motion, back flap for energy food or gels, brief liner, and breathability.
- Tops. Freedom of movement, moisture wicking, breathability, and maybe a reflective tape or logo are all great qualities to look for when buying a running top.
- Reflective clothing. Running early in the morning or at night, you will want to be seen. Wear some reflective clothing to boost your visibility.
- Gloves. Frequently, runners experience cold hands as the blood leaves their extremities during a long run. Put on a pair of gloves to keep your hands warm–summer or winter.
- Hat. Whether you are keeping cool on a hot day or staying warm on a cold one, be sure to wear a hat to help maintain your body temperature.
MOTIVATION
The energy and time commitment of training for a marathon can eventually get you down. Guard against any loss in motivation with these safeguards in place.
- Running group. Join the TEAM APEX gang to keep yourself on a schedule and find support from a whole group of runners with similar goals to yours.
- Running partner. Sometimes it is easier to let yourself down than someone else. Take advantage of this by having a running partner so you can keep each other motivated to keep going.
- Support network. Create a supportive group of family and friends who are behind you while you train for the marathon. They will be there to share both the lows and the highs.
- Watch running movies. On a rest day, instead of your usual running, watch a running movie to keep your motivation high.
- Use your journal/blog. Journaling your workouts on a daily to weekly basis is a great way to provide a history of your training to learn for the next time around.
- Don’t worry about backsliding. If you have a bad week or two, don’t throw in the towel just because you had a little misstep. Instead, focus on getting back into the groove and picking up where you left off.
- It won’t always be easy. Use this as a reminder when training gets difficult so you realize that if running a marathon was an easy task, everyone would do it.
- Find your motivation and discuss it with your coach/running partners. They can help you keep going!
