Kerry, intrepid and unsinkable (she ran the Philadelphia Broad Street Run, a 10 miler, on the mend from broken ribs and hit her goal time), recently posed an excellent question—-“What should I be doing the months before marathon training begins?” Kerry and friends will run the Philadelphia Marathon in November. Some recommendations:
-Quick! Sign up for the marathon, recession or not, these races fill up quickly. Consider signing up for a half-marathon a month prior to your marathon while you are registering online.
-Purchase 2 pairs of sneakers for alternating purposes. The cost is staggering. I order my Asics Gel Kayano’s on eBay, always NIB (new in box.) I’ve enjoyed good luck and they tend to cost 40-50% less.
-Consider starting a running log of some sort. Record training, aches and pains, core/strength work, sleep quality, sneaker purchases, tune up races and general mental state. You will wistfully refer to the log at a future date—your second marathon, perhaps.
-Read up! Obsess!! Get psyched! I enjoy the Runner’s World magazine and website (the 7/09 issue has a marathon training guide), the Times Run Well Blog, and the NY Roadrunners Club website. To feed my inner runner, I read the outstanding memoir, What I Talk about When I Talk about Running (Haruki Murakami) and watch The Spirit of the Marathon DVD. I spend far too much time on iTunes searching for just the right songs for my Ipod.
-Review training schedules and even pencil in some long runs. Think about the marathon course and determine the type of track, tempo and hill training that makes sense for you. Network with local runners, where do their favorite long runs take place? Knowledge is power!
-Work up to a base long run of 12-13 miles, this will add confidence for the training ahead-
Think about and research core and strength work, as well as marathon nutrition.
-As with the long runs, break the marathon training into manageable pieces. While marathoning absolutely brings out my compulsive tendencies, keep in mind that each training week won’t go exactly as planned. And that’s okay–it’s time to perfect the fine art of learning to adjust.
