Marathon Training

Every sport seems to have a body type that aligns with that particular activity. Some bodies are just more conducive to the athleticism involved in the specifics needed to be at that top level in certain sports. Swimmers are tall, lean, and broad-shouldered. Football players are tall, big, and strong. Jockeys are very short and lightweight. And what about marathon runners? Chances are you've already conjured an image in your...

Here I’ll outline risks associated with the marathon distance as well as what you can do to avoid them pertaining to:

Am I healthy enough to run a marathon?
Do I hydrate properly for marathon training?
What type of nutrition do I need to safely run a marathon?
Is it too hot to be running a marathon?
Am I running through injury when I shouldn’t be?

DNF. These are three letters no one ever wants to see next to their name on the results page of a race. And especially in a race as long as a marathon. Though I've been lucky enough to avoid this happening, I would never let myself believe that I was immune to not finishing a beast like a marathon. Especially since I've had the person closest to me experience a gut-wrenching "DNF" marathon. What is DNF? The acronym DNF...

I will always remember how at one of my earliest races, probably the Bolder Boulder 10k, volunteers were walking around with a big wooden board of translucent goo smeared on it. Right as I was wondering what the heck it was, I saw some guy swipe his hand through the goo and start applying it under his arms. "Gross!" I thought...realizing then that it was community Vaseline. At the time, I didn't really understand the purpose...

If you are new to marathon training, "cumulative fatigue" or "accumulated fatigue" might be a term that you hear runners talk about or something you might see as part of your training plan. You might be thinking that sounds less than desirable, but in marathon training, it's actually a good thing. Hmmm...how could fatigue...that accumulates...be something good? As a runner who has earned marathon PRs by increasing mileage...

I have to admit that sleep is not something I've put at the top of my list during my marathon training in the past couple of years. Like most runners, I've invested a lot of time and effort into understanding things like building up mileage, how to incorporate speed work, nutrition, how to avoid injury, etc. And although I probably complain way too much to my husband that I don't get enough sleep, I've never made it a...

Some people run simply for exercise. Some people run because they enjoy it. Then there are those runners who often transform from this into one who begins to train. At this point, your runs start having more of a purpose in terms of meeting a particular running goal you've set for yourself - such as a marathon. You're proud of every mile you're putting toward achieving your goal. And then you overhear someone talking about...

Most runners who train for a marathon have a particular time goal in mind. Some new marathon runners may have a goal simply to finish, but even then it's nice to have some idea of what time you're training toward. Even if you don't start your training with a time goal in mind, by the time you're rounding out your long runs you typically have an idea of an attainable goal to shoot for. On the day of the race as you walk up...

Most runners love working up a good sweat. This is a sign that they are putting in the effort they need to become faster and stronger. This is a byproduct of aerobic exercise and they are increasing their cardiovascular endurance to work toward higher mileage. What most people don't like is sweating long after that exercise is over. Worse still is waking up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. Some runners...

Once you start training for marathons, the amount of equipment needed to safely and enjoyably get through a long run seems to multiply. But whereas energy gels and hydration fall into the requirement category, something such as headphones is more of a running luxury. Some runners would agree that leaving the headphones at home is the optimal choice. Many other runners couldn't imagine running without them. I generally run...