Marathon and Half-Marathon (7 page)

Other events

It’s often a good idea to include a couple of 5- or 10-kilometer races as part of your training preparation. These races will provide you with priceless race-day experience. They will give you the opportunity to iron out some of the kinks in your pre-race-day preparations and to experience first-hand the start-line jitters, running in a crowd, taking in liquids at the aid stations, and much more. Once you’ve done a couple of races, you will feel more comfortable and confident in this new environment, which will reduce anxiety in the days and hours leading up to your event.

Pacing

Pacing is the process of finding a pace you can maintain throughout your training run. This is not as easy as it sounds; finding the right pace can be difficult. All too often, beginning runners take the “no pain, no gain” approach. But in the early stages of training, or when participating in events, it’s important to go slowly and remember that running too fast can lead to fatigue and, possibly, physical breakdown. Give yourself the talk test. If you can speak four or five consecutive sentences without feeling winded, you are going at a pace that is good for you. If this is not the case and you feel out of breath after two sentences, you need to back off and reduce your pace.

Stay Safe

The question of safety is an issue that all female runners face. Running has many great benefits, but we cannot deny the troubling reality that women continue to be physically harmed while running. Constable Rachel Bourne of the Victoria Police Department in British Columbia suggests the following precautions to stay safe:

• Make sure you carry identification.

• Avoid dark alleys, poorly lit streets, and unpopulated areas (if you live in a city).

• Carry a cell phone in a waist pouch, or coins to make an emergency call.

• Before heading out the door on your run, be sure to tell a friend or family member where you will be running.

• Vary your route and the time of day you train. You don’t want to be too predictable.

• Avoid wearing any music device, such as an iPod or MP3 player. You need to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

• Don’t wear jewelry. It can attract unwanted attention.

• Trust your intuition. Avoid any person or area that feels unsafe.

• Call the police immediately if something happens to you or to someone else, or if you are being followed or harassed.

Your Running Style

As a beginning runner, technique is not something you need to worry about. Everyone, even elite runners, have idiosyncrasies or quirks that detract from their optimum pace. In time your body will gradually adopt the technique best suited to you. This is not to say that good technique doesn’t pay off.

As you increase your running distance, the amount of energy lost because of poor running technique becomes more of an issue. So if you are training for a distance event, keep in mind the following tips:

• Watch that your upper body does not over-rotate or twist from side to side.

• Your arm swing should be just as comfortable as if you were walking, swinging a little away from you on the back side to just in front of your thigh in the front.

• Try to stay relaxed. If your shoulders are relaxed, the rest of your body will follow suit.

• Make sure you maintain good posture by keeping your chest cavity open; do this by not hunching forward.

If you find this difficult to envision, don’t worry about your form—being relaxed is even more important. Most people should avoid tension for at least two reasons: first, tight muscles may be more susceptible to injury. Second, it takes a lot of energy to stay tense; relaxing helps channel that energy into running. While you’re following your half- or full-marathon program, try to think about relaxing, assuming good posture (open your chest cavity by not hunching forward), and putting one foot in front of the other.

Where to Run

One of the great things about running is that you can do it practically anywhere—on a road, in a park, around a track, across the country, or on the spot. Nonetheless, if you have a choice, running on softer surfaces will reduce the stress and strain on bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles and make your run more enjoyable all-round.

As a running surface, asphalt is preferable to concrete. Dirt is better yet, because it will absorb more of the impact. If concrete, which does not absorb any impact, is the worst surface, grass or rubberized tracks are probably the best, mainly because they absorb the most. Some runners find tracks boring. On the other hand, grass can hide holes or tree roots that can trip you. Consider your options carefully.

Out-and-back runs are great because:

• They teach you how to maintain an even pace.

• You learn about the dangers of going out too fast.

• It’s motivating to make it to the turnaround point and know you’re halfway to the end of your run.

• Knowing the route will give you increased confidence for the last, and often the most taxing, portion of your run.

If you are training for a half or full marathon that is on pavement, and you do most of your training on soft terrain, it’s important to do some hard-surface running to prepare your legs for what race day will feel like.

When to Run

You’ve probably overheard runners remark that one of the best aspects of running is that you can do it anywhere and at any time of the day or night. Keeping safety in mind, especially for women, it’s important to learn what works best for you. Of course you can do both morning and evening running, but when you plan your training schedule and organize your life accordingly, you should have a good sense of what works best for you.

Morning running

Morning runs may take you a little longer to loosen up, given that you’ve just got out of bed. But running at the start of your day usually increases the likelihood of sticking with a program. Too often life gets hectic, and by the end of the day our running time is competing with the demands of work and family. If you are like many people and find it difficult to function in the morning, perhaps running at noon or in the evening is a better choice.

Evening running

Many people enjoy evening runs because they feel better then than they do first thing in the morning, and they have more time. One thing to consider when running in the evening or at night is the time it will take you to cool down and wind down after your run. It’s likely that you will find it difficult to sleep shortly after you finish your run.

It makes sense to schedule your long-run days when you have the most available time: weekends, or days when you’re not working, are often best.

The Programs

Initially, each training session is broken down into 5-minute components. These blocks are long enough to lead to improvement, but not so onerous that you will feel exhausted or sore. There’s a psychological benefit, as well: the tasks in each block are relatively easy to complete, which will give you the confidence to graduate to the following week.

Study the programs carefully to see where you will be going and how long it will take you to get there. It’s important to remember that the times noted for the training sessions do not include the time you will have to spend warming up and cooling down. For most of the program, the 5-minute blocks are divided into walking and running; as the weeks pass, the ratio of running to walking increases. For more information, turn to chapter 4. You may start to feel quite comfortable with the workouts in the early stages of your marathon program, but don’t be tempted to jump ahead. Your bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles adapt to training much less quickly than your cardiovascular system; to stay injury free, you must give them time to catch up.

One piece of equipment you will definitely need is a sport watch with a stopwatch feature. Digital is best; sweep second-hand readings tend to get approximated when you’re bouncing along.

Schedule enough time each week to complete the three sessions with rest days in between, rather than trying to squeeze your training into consecutive days. Many people find it helps to start on a weekend. It also helps to pick a running route that’s enticing and as free of obstacles—pedestrians and cars—as possible. Think of running an out-and-back route, and at the halfway point, head home.

Try to stick with your plan and avoid missing your scheduled training sessions. If you do have to miss a session, don’t try to make up for it by doing double time on your next outing, as this drastically increases the risk of injury. Consistent training works best.

4
Coaching Advice and the Programs

ARE YOU READY? IT’S TIME TO BELLY UP TO THE LINE AND put to work everything you’ve learned so far about distance running. The two c’s, commitment and consistency, are the key ingredients. It’s only when you take on too much, go too fast, or miss a large number of training sessions that your workouts go from pleasant to not so pleasant. This chapter outlines the principal framework for the 26-week training programs, including coaching advice specific to each training phase, and provides some final tips and goal-setting strategies to help you successfully cross your finish line.

Starting a Marathon and Half-marathon Program
in a Perfect World

Ideally, you will have been running three times a week for the past year. If it’s the half marathon you want to complete, you will have finished a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) event, and if you’re training for a full marathon, you will have already run a half marathon.

If this describes your current level of training, you will likely find the first several weeks of the half- or full-marathon programs outlined in this chapter too easy. If this is the case, review your program of choice and decide where you are most comfortable starting. The easiest way to figure out where you should start your program is to use the long run as your reference point. You want to match your weekly long run with the appropriate long run in your desired training program. If, for example, the longest run of the week is usually about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) or 2.5 hours, match this with whichever week recommends an equivalent long run.

Starting a Marathon or a Half-marathon
Program for True Beginners

If the above paragraph does not describe you, and instead you are a true beginning runner, the 26-week training programs for the half and full marathon are for you. The programs here are for the true beginner.

Common Questions

Should I start with a 10-kilometer event before
attempting the half marathon?

Starting with a 10-kilometer event for your short-term goal is a great idea. The half marathon can be your long-term quest in a year or two. If you’re looking for a good learn-to-run-10-kilometers program, you might want to refer to
The Beginning Runner’s Handbook,
which includes several proven 13-week walk/run programs.

How do I choose what half or full marathon
I should enter?

Go on-line and search for information on marathon and half-marathon events in your chosen location and at your preferred time of year. Or ask your local specialty running store for a listing of half- and full-marathon events. You should make sure you have at least 26 weeks to prepare for your race. It’s a wise idea to give yourself an extra couple of weeks in the event that you’re sidelined by illness or injury or require some extra time to build endurance and strength.

How will my training progress throughout the
26-week program?

Both the half-and full-marathon programs are carefully designed to include three training sessions: one “short” day, one “short-medium” day, and one “longer” day each week. The programs support the principle that the longer run is the most important element of your training program. As the weeks progress, your long run gets longer every other week. The programs are comprised of an alternating pattern of building and recovery weeks, designed to gradually improve your strength and endurance to prepare your body and mind for the demands of the distance event. A building week essentially means an increase in the intensity and volume of your workouts, whereas the recovery week is less demanding and designed to give your body time to adapt to the increased stresses from the previous week.