Coaching runners over the last decade has taught me that the successful marathon experience isnt about a magical pill or program. I have given the same exact training plan to 10 runners and witnessed ten very different effects. Its not so much about what you need to do to practice as the way you manage the impact of training on your life, body, and mind. Instead of talking of mileage a week, its more significant to discuss the principles of marathon training – what I will refer to here as the Key Six Phases of the marathon lifecyle.
Phase One: Commit
Its the first thing to place a race on the bucket list, its another to truly decide on a competition and drop your money on an entry charge. Signing up provides you with something to show to your family and friends; its a gathering that you can mark as a milestone on the personal calendar. No one knows, perhaps you can even tell some of your crazy friends to sign on along with you!
Phase Two: Connect
Now that you are formally in for your race, its time to begin to build a little group who’ll support and motivate you on the way to your finish line. Even if you have your pre-existing team in place, here are several things to do if you were to begin from scratch. Look for a local running shop where you can take a seat and speak (even if briefly) with a fellow runner regarding the right footwear for yourself. This shop will most likely have the right information on the local run.
Phase Three: Conspire
With the event kept in together with a group to run with at least part of the moment, you can now turn your attention to your marathon training schedule. Choosing the appropriate plan has less to do with the program itself, and much more to do with youso always place yourself first when making your selection.
Phase Four: Consistency
Whatever plan you do end up choosing, your number one goal is get stick to it as closely as you can. The best training plans are Easy To Do, for the reason that there won’t be any super-hard sessions or hard to comprehend guidance. The ultimate aim of any marathon plan is to get you prepared to deal with the rigors of 26.2 miles – and the simplest way for doing that is to get you running as frequently as possible for so long as you can handle during that time.
Phase Five: Doubt
Nobody is ever actually prepared for contest day. Talk to any individual at the starting line on race weekend and youll hear a lot of awesome reports of defeating obstacles like injuries, scheduling, health, etc. Its just part of what we do as runners; do the best to remain focused and dont be afraid to request for support from the networks you have built in early stages of the training.
Phase Six: Conserve
Once you are in a running groove, youll realize that running is actually effortless. You love it, its empowering and its changing what you are. So if 40 miles every week is goodthen 60 or 80 should be better, right? If the 20-miler is good, a 24-miler has to be better, right? Wrong!
Bear in mind our mantra of Consistency above; getting aggressive with all or a part of your training is usually a major roll of the dice. The gamble might help some, however they are normally within the minority, and its simply not worth it this early in your running profession.