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Letter to First Time MarathonersGreat Strides 2006Shelly Florence Glover |
The
Ideal First Timer |
January/February/March
Goals April/May/June |
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TrainingOne of the toughest parts of marathoning is training. That's why a lot of folks skip it and opt instead to suffer on marathon day. Some folks do more training than we suggest, some do less. Itís a matter of what level of comfort and speed you want on race day. For us, itís a real rush to run the entire distance.We guarantee you'll face training challenges before you get to the marathon starting line. So will we. Some days, just finding the time to run can be as daunting an episode as running 26.2 miles. How you handle the challenges of training determines the outcome of your marathon. Most of all, the marathon is about attitude. Of training and adversity, George Sheehan writes in his book Personal Best, "Coping means taking the initiative, to strike back, take charge and to dominate." Coping with marathon training conflicts is about creating your own opportunities for success. Every footstep and every stride counts. Dominate your marathon experience. Initiate and organize your training program, starting now. Here's how What do you need to do to start off your marathon training right?The key to successful marathon training rests in your ability to develop good physical and mental training habits. Both types of training take practice to adopt and work to maintain.
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Physical training habits you'll need: A good training schedule intersperses days that challenge you with days for easy to moderate runs and days of rest. : Challenge days are those training sessions that you take long runs; participate in races; do speed and form work. Easy to Moderate Days are those training sessions that you run at a conversational pace. To ensure this, do the talking test (i.e. talk to yourself, your partner, etc.) at different points in your run. Rest days are those days you take off from running in order to help your body recover and adapt to the challenge days. Be sure to sandwich challenge days with at least one, if not two, days of easy or moderate runs. Establish a training routine. Incorporate the following into a weekly routine:
Weekly Overview
| How Much Time - Plan to invest an average of an hour a day training, and a few hours on the weekends. This includes running, stretching and showering, but not laundering the exponential increase in sweaty running gear and naps. Marathon preparation takes about four to six months. Some 16 weeks of this is specific long distance training. Prior to this specific training, a runner must establish a fitness of base of one to two months of steady, all-purpose, bread-and-butter type running. The level of this all-purpose fitness training determines the level of marathon training. It is commonly called a "mileage base" and is four to eight weeks of consistent training. Key factors of the base are the distance of long runs, race experience and depth of speed and form work. A casual first-time marathoner establishes a base of 15-20 miles per week. A more experienced or competitive runner has a primary base of anywhere from 30-60 or more miles per week. The base is a launching pad for marathon training. If you want to run all 26.2 miles without any walk breaks, you need to build a strong mileage base from January to July. Classic Marathon Training Here are the elements of good training program:
A Little MoreRunning Coach Shelly Glover is has a master's degree in exercise physiology from Columbia University. She co-authored The Runner's Handbook and The Competitive Runner’s Handbook is a veteran road runner and marathoner. She also coaches The Greater New York Racing Team is available for private coaching. Coaching Services
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