How To Prepare For A Marathon

By Laura Davis

Even professional athletes have to ensure their body is in tip top condition. You should begin your training as early as possible, around 6-7 months prior to the actual race, to allow for you to build up your stamina and strength without putting too much strain on your body in a short period of time. It is wise to make up a Gantt Chart, set yourself goals of running an extra mile or two each week to build up; you should be on average running around 30-40 miles a week, however in the month preceding the marathon cut this down and aim to do short runs.

To prevent wear and tear of your muscles it is wise to alternate your training; incorporate cycling, swimming or deep water running, the key is to make sure you do this activity for the same length of time as it would take you to do your goal distance running. If during your training you sustain an injury do not continue your normal programme, change your running for another activity as suggested above or do cross training. Before doing this however, consult a doctor to make sure you are not doing any permanent damage.

To keep focused on your training join a local running group or try to find a marathon partner that you can train with; there are many useful websites and social networks designed to give advice from professionals and to help you find running friends.

Another important aspect of running a marathon is what you wear; wearing inappropriate trainers can cause injury and long term damage. Go to a specialty running store and spend the money on a pair of quality trainers, and remember looks does not necessarily mean quality.

What to eat before you race is incredibly important and can greatly influence your overall performance. Throughout training ensure you have a balanced diet, increasing your carbohydrates slightly before a long run. The week before the marathon focus on topping up your glycogen stores by increasing your carbs; the bigger the glycogen stores in your muscles the longer you can perform. Bread, rice, pasta, cereals, potatoes, fruit and vegetables are all good foods to eat.

The day or night before the big day eat as much starchy carbohydrates as possible, such as rice, pasta, bread and potatoes; try not to eat any high fibre foods with wholegrain as this takes longer to digest and will leave you feeling full up. Good pre marathon snacks that are low-fat high carbohydrate foods such as cereal bars, slices of malt loaf of fig rolls. On the actual day make sure you eat a breakfast, ignore your jitters, and fill up on foods rich in carbohydrates but nothing too bulky. Try to eat at least three hours prior to the marathon.

It is important that throughout your training you keep hydrated, try drink as much water as possible, diluted fruit juices are okay to drink prior to running and sports drinks or isotonic drinks can be a brilliant aid to give you energy and keep you going for longer.

If you are preparing for a marathon log on to Fill My Time, get tips from others in the same position as you or even a running partner.

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