Want to run a marathon? Just do it!
Last year I completed my first marathon. It’s something I never thought I would do. I only started running when I was 18 and back then I could barely run a kilometre. Ten years later and I had decided that 42 kilometres was something I could do. And I did do it. I got to the end. I won’t lie, it hurt. It hurt a lot. Would I do it again? Absolutely. If I can do it, so can you. These are my tips for training for a marathon – A.
1. Seek Advice – Find a friend or a colleague who has run a couple of marathons before. You need a Marathon Mentor. Someone who can offer advice on the best way to prepare and ultimately run the marathon. I was lucky; I had a number of hard-core marathon lovers to turn to who loved giving me advice. Each week I would check in with them and tell them how my training was going. They would usually tell me that I wasn’t running enough and then push me to run a couple of each kilometres the next week. Towards the end of my training it was reassuring to hear them say “You’ve done the training, so you’ll be fine” – they’ve done it before, so they know.
2. Get a Plan – I started planning for my marathon six months out from the event. My plan was to slowly build up my running over the full six months, to get the kilometres under the legs. But not too many, too soon. If you start running 20 kilometres six months out from the event, you’ll injure yourself. It’s about a slow build. You probably won’t run a marathon in your training. The most I got to was 30 kilometres and most people suggest aiming for 35 kilometres. You can find training plans online or the event organisers usually offer a guide.
3. Finding Time – Fitting in your training around work requires flexibility. This may require getting your boss on board with your training schedule. I told my boss early on that I was training for a marathon and because I had a great boss, he suggested ways I could fit it in around work. I ran into work some mornings, which meant I got in a little later, but then worked over lunch or did an extra hour at night. Sometimes I took an extra long lunch and ran for 90 minutes, but then I’d get into work early or leave a little later. As long as the work was getting done, the boss was happy!
4. Eat Right – When you’re running 70 kilometres or more a week you need to eat right. I’m not a nutritionist so I’m not going to offer a nutritional guide, but basically you need to eat good food and a lot of it. You need to fuel your body in order to do the extreme amount of training required. I was easily eating 5 times a day, making sure it was protein packed for muscle repair – so lots of tuna, lean meat, nuts, bananas, green vegies. And as one person pointed out to me, if you’re running that much every week you deserve a donut or two!
5. Get a Good Playlist – this is critical, even if you don’t usually run with music. Running for 3 hours at a time is a completely different proposition – it requires a distraction from the pain and boredom.
6. Find a Training Buddy – Motivation is the tricky bit. You start out really focussed and then a few weeks in and your running, and running and running, and it starts to feel a little tedious and you lose sight of your goal. That’s why you need to find a friend who’s as crazy as you are and is also doing the marathon. I had my brother. A sibling has an extra bonus. You’re naturally competitive and there’s nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to get you out of bed in the morning.
7. Mix it Up – Refer point 5, running, and running, and running can really become tedious after awhile and it can also be tough on your body. So mix it up. Do a bit of yoga; go for a swim or a hike. Yoga stretches every muscle and your body will thank you for it after all that running and swimming is far less jarring on the joints.
8. Hydrate – Drink lots of water. Rehydrating is so important after you run but you should also hydrate before. Have a bottle on your desk to remind you to keep drinking. And during the race, drink at EVERY drink station. Even if you’re not thirsty, have a drink. You’ll be thankful for it at the 35th kilometre and beyond. It’s the best advice I ever got and probably the reason I made it to the end.
9. Stretch it – you need to stretch every day, before and after every run, but you should also do a couple of longer stretch sessions every week. Sit in front of the TV and stretch, and stretch, and stretch. Running works all your muscles, especially the quads, so stretch them well.
10. Take a Nap – I read somewhere that a professional marathon runner (I forget his name), but he would nap for 90 minutes a day while training. For someone who loves a good nap, I didn’t need a reason to nap, but this legitimised by long afternoon naps after running. Naps help your body to recover. Running 25 kilometres is exhausting. It’s not normal. So give your body a break and take a nap.
11. Taper Off – In the last couple of weeks before the marathon, take it easy. You’ve done the training; you have the kilometres under the legs, so now its important to be fresh come race day. Go for a couple of light jogs or hit the pool. If you think you haven’t done enough training, doing 35k’s a few days before won’t help, it will only hinder. Refer point 9 and get napping.
Good Luck! You’ve done the training, you’ll be fine.
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