Training Advice
After getting your entry in, all you need do is figure how you’re going to make it to the finish line –preferably in one piece, and with a big smile on your face. Follow my advice on the next few pages, and you’ll be well on your way to doing that.
Presumably, you are already doing some regular running – but now is the time to add some structure and progression to those runs, to ensure that you keep improving your running, fitness rather than becoming stuck in a rut, and that you increase your training “workload’’ at a sensible rate, so that you don’t end up exhausted, disillusioned or injured.
There are many methods of Marathon training. Some people advocate the high volume, 6 – days a week approach – others believe it is quality, not quantity of running that counts. There is no single right or wrong way to train, and what works for one person may not necessarily work for another. It’s up to you to find out what works best for you, but whether you opt to follow the training programme offered here in Marathon News, or follow your own schedule, there are some key principles that any good running programme should factor in.
BUILD A BASE
Stamina, or endurance, is the base on which you build the rest of your fitness. Hopefully, you have already created a decent ‘aerobic’ base on which to build.
The comfortable – paced ‘steady’ runs you’ve already been doing are fantastic for the heart, circulatory system and lungs – they improve muscular endurance and fat utilization, too. These will still be a mainstay of your training, but as time goes on you’ll be introducing some other types of sessions, which will help you improve your running technique, your economy (the amount of energy you use to run at any given pace), your strength and speed.
RING THE CHANGES
If they aren’t already, phrases such as fartlek, hill reps and lactate threshold will soon be part of your vocabulary – not to mention your training regime. You might be wondering why you need to do different types of run in training when on the day itself, you’ll be running at a comfortable, steady pace. Well, research shows that varying the intensity and distance of your sessions reaps the widest range of benefits for the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. Shorter, sharper runs help the increase such things as your leg turnover (the number of steps you take per minute), your ability to run at a higher heart rate and your average speed, while hills develop more robust muscles and connective tissues and greater power output (particularly beneficial for women, who start off with less muscle mass than men). All these benefits spill over into your normal running pace, nudging the speedometer upwards.
Variety also makes your training far more interesting but the secret is knowing how much to do of what – and getting the right balance between working hard, working steady and not working at all.
GIVE IT A REST
Yes, rest days are just as integral to your training as those long runs. Without them, you’ll be going nowhere fast, as you simply won’t allowing your body to make the necessary adaptations to cope with the training you’ve been doing. It can take up to 72 hours to recover fully from a hard training session or race. That’s not to say you should take 3 days off a week – but it does demonstrate the importance of scheduling in rest and recovery- and of alternating hard and easy sessions throughout the week.
PUTTING THE PLAN INTO ACTION
So, steady runs, hills, speed training and sofa–lolling all have a place in your Marathon training programme. Please see the Training Programme page. You will also see that the length and intensity of specific sessions changes as the week’s progress. That’s because as you get fitter, you’ll need more challenging sessions in order to keep making progress. This is called the principle of ‘progressive overload’ and it underpins successful training in any sport or activity. You could carry on doing the week 1 programme for 6 weeks, but it would soon become too easy and you wouldn’t be enabling your fitness to improve. Equally, you could decide week 1 was too easy and plunge into week 8 – but taking away the steady progression and recovery time of those intervening weeks may leave you vulnerable to injury or overtraining syndrome.
It’s along time to stay focused and motivated – in fact, the mental challenge of training for a Marathon is just as formidable as the physical – but knowing that every run you do is taking you a step closer to your ultimate goal really helps. Firstly, because it gives meaning to the session (no matter how much you’re dreading it!) and secondly, because it makes you less likely to skip training sessions, as you know that each run is a piece of the overall jigsaw.
STAYING POWER
Talking of skipping sessions, we’ll let you into a little secret. We don’t actually expect you do to do every single run, every single week of the programme. It’s highly unlikely that you are going to get through the next few months without a late night at work, a cold, a lovers’ tiff that needs to be made up or an unmissable celebration (and the accompanying hangover) coming between you and our trainers. That’s okay; you are still allowed to have a life between now and October 9th. We do recommend, however, that you try to keep your training consistent when there aren’t other pressing commitments. That way, when those unavoidable setbacks occur, they won’t make much of a dent in your overall progress.
WINNING WAYS
I’ve found these three qualities come in very handy in adhering to training focus, organization and commitment. If you are focused, you won’t end up singing karaoke with a pint of beer on Friday night, when you’d planned to do a long run in the morning. If you are organised, you won’t discover that your water bottle is growing mould just before you head off to a race, or that all your running kit is in the laundry basket. If you are committed, you won’t peek at the rain from under the duvet and switch the alarm off, or stuff your face with fish and chips after you’ve just done a great internal session.
It is a good idea to keep track of your progress using a training journal or online log. Not only does this help you stick with your programme, but also reminds you how far you’ve come since those first wheezing shuffles around the block! And nothing’s more motivating than seeing your progress in black and white.
Check out our Running Programmes for further information about how you can reach your target.