Need Some Marathon Advice? Top 10 Tips

At Edgewater Physiotherapy Clinic we like to provide professional advice to our clients regarding running technique, periodisation and recovery. The 2015 marathons are not to far away so hopefully training for those who hope to compete is underway! Here are some tips for the build up to the marathon, and for the big day itself.

1. Change Terrain

Don’t run all your mileage on the same surface use grass, trail and track this might help to protect your joints.

2. Stretch Frequently

Make sure you are using dynamic stretching during your warm up and static stretch during cool down.

3. Listen to your Body

Try and monitor your training rating your muscle soreness after each run, monitor your sleep pattern – these can be good indicators of over training.

4. Rest

Incorporate rest days and active rest days such as aqua jogging. This is key for building your mileage.

5. Plan your key runs

Choose specific dates to do your long runs, speed sessions etc. Try not to increase by more than 5-10% weekly.

6. Cross Train

Alternate your types of training to offload your legs – endurance running is a repetitive movement using the same muscle groups. Swimming, cycling, rowing or even boxing can decrease the load on the joints and still provide cardiovascular benefit. This will also vary your training so its not so monotonous.

7. Pace Yourself

Familiarise yourself with running at your projected marathon pace. This will help your body prepare itself for the big day. This will also indicate whether your expectations are realistic.

8. Hydration

Being hydrated improves strength and muscle gains.

9. Use races as practice

Incorporate at least one other race into your training schedule. This will help sharpen you up and also prepare you for race conditions (racing in a crowd) and pacing yourself for when the adrenaline is pumping.

10. Run your own race in the Marathon

Stick to your pre-determined pace rather than keeping up with faster runners at the start (common mistake!). 2 minutes too quickly in the first half when you are feeling top of the world can easily cost you 20 minutes in the second half.

We hope this marathon advice was helpful! If you require further information, assessment or injury treatment please contact us at Edgewater Physiotherapy Clinic – 0579329111