Marathon Training Program: Choosing the Right One!

June 27, 2011 by admin | 0 comments

Well done!

As you are probably already aware, finding the right marathon training program for your personal physique is vital for preparation of running a marathon.

Many people assume that the harder they train, they better they will compete. This is certainly not the case. Training too hard could make you tired for the actual event, training too little could leave you unprepared and even completing it could be tough. Below we look at some key points to consider when looking for a marathon training program to ensure your schedule is as easy as it can be!

Every runner and sportsperson is different. We all have differing strengths and weaknesses as well as different experiences of running. As an athlete you have to be able to assess these attributes and work out exactly where you excel and where you may fall behind. Maybe you are naturally good at shorter distances but want to push yourself to complete a marathon. Your pace may be good or stamina may not be up to scratch for example?

A good place to start when considering your marathon training program is to look at your past results, how did you get on in other races? Did you finish well? Did you run a good time? Work out why you ended up with that time and what weak points may have held you back on improving those times.

Marathon Training: Goals

For your own personal marathon training program, you need to look at your main goals of achievement for your schedule and the race itself. What time are you aiming to run the race? Is your goal simply to complete the marathon unscathed?

Well having a training program at all means that you get structure to your preparation and will help you achieve that goal. You schedule will help you build the required muscles, stamina, mental strength and overall experience to get over the finish line.

Marathon Training Program

If you have seen any training programs up until now, you may have noticed how varied they can be. The number of miles per week ranging from 20 to 60 and the program itself being anywhere from 8 to 24 weeks long! Because of this it can be quite confusing when you try and choose your own schedule that you think is best suited to your needs.

How to Choose Your Training Program…

All good training programs will be based on solid basic principles that work on the basis of alternating easy and hard training days and weeks. The program itself should be of “medium” length, which for a typical runner would be about 16 weeks (give or take a few weeks), however this will vary depending on current fitness levels.

Here are some points to take into consideration for your personal schedule:

- Have you had a check with your doctor first for overall fitness and wellbeing? If not it’s worth doing this before beginning training.
- Allow flexibility throughout your training program, if you feel particularly tired one day, shorten your estimated training for that day or maybe taker a break.
- You don’t need to be a drill sergeant and run 100 miles per week with weights on your back! About 40 to 60 miles should be your maximum unless you are an elite athlete. Obviously if you are a complete beginner your mileage will be less, especially at the beginning.
- Have a gradual build-up in distance from the beginning of the program. You need to work on building up your ability to run distance without straining your body. Including long and slow distance runs regularly and slowly increasing distance should form the foundation of your schedule.
- Ensure your training program is conservative and not overly ambitious. It can be quite easy to get carried away and think you are capable when really you need to take it slower. There is nothing wrong with taking in slow so don’t exert too much pressure on yourself for no reason.
- Though the marathon is 26.2 miles, there is little need to actually have 26.2 runs in training. 20 miles is enough.
- Speed training is not necessarily required in training to run a marathon (unless you are aiming for 2hours 30m!).
- You don’t need to run a 20 mile training run every week. About 2 to 4 will be enough for most over the course of your program and probably in the second half of the schedule.
- Don’t overdo it or “over-train”. You could find that your best performance has already been used during training and not the main event!
- Ensure you have a balance of easy pace running, long runs, tempo runs, hill training, marathon pace running and rest days that fit in with your own life and that you feel comfortable achieving.
- Is your diet in line with your training schedule?

Running a marathon can be made a simpler and easier task if you get your marathon training program right, though as you can see above there is quite a bit to consider. If you would like help tailoring your own schedule check the infamous 100-day marathon training guide which has had much good feedback from marathon runners all over the world. If you are training for a half marathon, click here.

Marathon Training Diet & Nutrition Tips for Your Running Program

June 13, 2011 by admin | 0 comments

For many years, runners were led to believe that overloading with carbohydrates was all you needed to prepare nutritionally for sport and the overall diet didn’t get much consideration when marathon training. However, getting your diet right for your marathon training program is vitally important. What you eat in the days, weeks and months before the marathon can have a considerable influence on how you perform. Below we take a quick look at some nutritional tips to help with your marathon training diet.

Get to grips with the following diet guidelines and cross that finish line quicker!

Marathon Training Diet – The Good

As you have no doubt heard countless times already – you should eat a balanced diet! More specifically for a marathon training diet try to get the right combination of proteins, fruit, vegetables and grains.

Uncooked vegetables are excellent and so too are salads as they have not lost any nutrients through cooking. Choose white meat and fish over red meats or if you are vegetarian soy and whey products are a good alternative to meat and a substitute for animal protein. Even if you do eat meat it is good to include meat-free days at least once or twice a week in your marathon training diet.

Fresh produce is also always much more preferable over foods that are overly processed or packaged. Remember that your goal is to maintain the highest level of health so the best combination and quality of that food is vital to achieve this.

Marathon Training Diet – The Bad

This is easy and no doubt you will already have this nailed down – try to keep the amount of saturated fat and low-quality carbohydrates to a minimum in your diet. Not only will these have a negative effect on your training program and the marathon itself but are also bad for your overall health.

This means fast food should not picture in your marathon training diet and in addition to this alcohol and caffeine should only be consumed in moderation.

Complex Carbs

Because of the vast number of professional opinions when it comes to the amount and types of carbohydrates people should consume, many marathon runners unsurprisingly get confused about their carb intake.

Marathon training goes against the rules and recommendations given to those that are trying to lose weight where a low carb intake is recommended. For your marathon training diet, you should look to add complex carbohydrates from pasta and grains into your everyday eating, especially in the weeks running up to the event.

As your training progresses and your runs get longer, slowly increase your complex carb intake to ensure your body has sufficient energy. Also when you are not marathon training then you can lower your intake of carbs to ensure you don’t put on too much weight!

So how many carbohydrates should you eat? Overall you should first look at the intensity of your particular marathon training program and at what stage you are at in it. If you are intending to run a fast time or are currently running a high number of miles then your cab intake should be relatively high. Here is a rough guideline for % calorie intakes from carbs to keep in mind with your marathon training diet:

45–65% of calories gained from eating complex carbohydrates;
15–30% calories from eating proteins;
10–25% calories taken from fat intake.

When looking at the fat intake this may seem high at first, however it is important to maintain a level of fat intake that is unsaturated as your body will burn some of its energy from fat regularly during training.

Marathon Training Diet – Food Ideas

It is very well talking about having the perfect diet for marathon training, yet putting it into practice in real life is not always so easy.

Here are a few ideas that fit in well to any marathon training diet and are quick and easy to prepare.

Continue Reading →

5 Top Tips when Running a Marathon

June 7, 2011 by admin | 0 comments

Running a Marathon

Completing a marathon is possibly one of the most satisfying accomplishments in sport and one that fills you with a great sense of pride. Getting to the finish line however takes a massive effort that starts months or even years before with serious training and preparation. Below we list five top tips to keep in mind when running a marathon that will help you get to the finish line with greater ease!

Keep Calm, Avoid Stress

First of all, you need to remain calm! It is important on race day that you are relaxed, calm and collected so make sure you are prepared before race day to minimize the amount of stress you could encounter.

To do this why not start by walking or running parts of the course so that you become more familiar with the route? Also make a note of where you will park your car and the route you will take to get to the start line on time. Maybe you will be taking public transport? Are there extra buses or trains being put on for all the extra runners?

Decide on and set out your running clothes, shoes, accessories and race number and try to get to the start line early on the day.

Little things like these can really make the difference in keeping you calm for the race with a positive frame of mind. If your mind is in the right place, you will find running a marathon easier.

Eat Well, Eat Right

Remember you don’t want to eat anything big within a few hours of starting the race, however you must ensure that you eat the correct type and amount of food before you set off.

A light breakfast of cereal and fruit for example should provide enough fuel to push your limits without feeling too bloated or heavy. You can always top-up on high energy and easily digestible snacks during the marathon if you need to. Food such as fruit and bread or anything high in carbohydrates are best but be sure to avoid very acidic fruit and dairy products so that you don’t encounter any digestion problems while running.

Mind Over Matter

It is no secret that the difference between world-class athletes and “standard” athletes is that the former have trained their mind for success. Physically they may be identical to you or I, yet the difference in their mental-makeup keeps them focused to get the job done in a speedier fashion.

Top athletes and sports people envisage the process of the race, the see themselves running at a certain pace, that they are controlled, confident and powerful. A concentration of their mind helps them regulate proper heart rates and breathing. Lastly, the best marathon runners are able to do all of this while keeping a loose body frame which seems to almost effortlessly keeps them going for the entire 26 miles.

Keep telling yourself that you CAN do it, that you WILL do it! Having a positive mindset helps in all aspects of your life and especially when running a marathon.

Water, Water, Water

An obvious point that many seem to overlook. You must drink enough water before doing any sport and especially a marathon!

The day before the race drink enough water so that you are forced to get up in the night to go to the toilet. This marks a level showing that you are adequately hydrated and should help remain so during the race, proving you top-up a few times during it!

Before you take your first step over the start line, drink a cup-sized amount of water and make sure you visit the bathroom one more time before setting off.

Warm Up, Loosen Down

Of course it is vitally important to warm-up properly before the race to ensure your muscles are relaxed and your blood is circulating (we will be looking into this in a bit more detail in a future post).

Use stretching exercises for your arms and legs and take a light job or brisk walk for ten minutes. Make sure this is all done so that you have twenty minutes rest before the start of the marathon.

If you ensure to have the above five points covered, then part of your race is already complete and it will help actually running a marathon be both fun and rewarding. Now you just need a good marathon training ebook.

Running a marathon is not something to take lightly, especially if you’re looking to become competitive, and not just someone that finishes. Sure, it’s ok if you want to simply finish the marathon stride, but if you want to compete and finish well, you’re going to have to fight hard to get past the rest of the bunch.

Before you set off on the day of the race, you will need to consider training extensively, especially if you’re a new comer to long distance running. If you’re serious about running a marathon, consider looking into the following 4 tips that will help you rise above the pain and struggle of getting past that wall that will inevitably hit midway through the long stretch of road that sits between you and victory.

Marathon Training Tips – 3 (Fresh!) Tips To Consider

Gradual Increases – The first tip to consider is in regards to increasing your overall distance and time in your jogging. It should be obvious at first that you will want to move forward with jogging on a daily basis. You will not be able to run a marathon or adhere to any of the marathon training tips found here if you aren’t continually running. A month ahead of schedule, make sure that you’re already used to running everyday, and if you’re ok with that, start to time your distances. Get a stopwatch, and set a course for mileage and go forward. You don’t want to start with a full marathon on day one, and you don’t want to ever train yourself to run a full set of marathon distances. Start with a few miles within a certain time span, and slowly rise up to the ranks of getting more out of your runs.

Stretch Before and After – In order to make sure that you’re progressing in a natural way, make sure that you’re stretching before and after your runs. You need to make sure that your legs are not tight, and they are not stressed out when moving forward. You will find that most injuries are common placed when a person moves forward with neglecting to stretch properly. If you don’t stretch, you will not gain the stamina and muscle recovery necessary to increase your overall speed, distance, and time.

Resting and Shoes – The last two tips are going to help you in regards to resting and also picking up the right kind of running shoes. When you’re serious about running a marathon and you’re training constantly, make sure that you get the right kind of shoes. Do not skimp here, you need footwear that will get you through your training regimen, but also helps you in the event. If you don’t put yourself in the right shoes, you will have pain in the feet and could end up with an injury

. Do not take this for granted at all. In conjunction with selecting the right shoes, and training hard, make sure that you rest. The reason why this is grouped together is mainly because the issue of resting your feet after working out proper shoes is crucial to the longevity of your training. Making sure the feet are well rested, at least one day a week and when training they are placed in proper footwear, will be the difference between running the full race and quitting midway.

Did you find these tips helpful? Get more tips with this amazing marathon training ebook.

Welcome to Marathon Training Programs Dot Net!

May 27, 2011 by admin | 0 comments

Marathon Training Programs

We will be outlining the best marathon program help and advice to help you compete in any half or full marathon whether it’s for competition or fun.

We aim to help with your marathon training program to give you a solid building block for optimum shape and fitness so that you can confidently conquer any 13 or 26 mile run!

Please have a look around the site for diet, fitness and other marathon training program tips…